दुनिया भर के शेयर बाजारों में भारी गिरावट

2008 की मंदी के बाद गुरुवार को अमेरिकी शेयर बाजार का सबसे बुरा दिन रहा। न्यूयॉर्क के डाओ जोन्स में 500 अंक यानी करीब चार फीसदी की गिरावट आई। अमेरिका के साथ-साथ यूरोप के शेयर बाजार भी हिचकोले खाते नजर आए। लंदन के शेयर बाजार भी करीब साढ़े तीन फीसदी की गिरावट के साथ बंद हुआ। 

अमेरिका और यूरोप में आर्थिक मंदी की आशंका से डरे निवेशकों ने जमकर बिकवाली की है, जिससे बाजार औंधे मुंह गिरे। यूरोपियन यूनियन के अध्यक्ष जोस मैन्युल ने चेतावनी देते हुए यूरोपीय देशों में कर्ज संकट के तेजी से फैलने की बात कही थी। पिछले कुछ समय से ग्रीस समेत कई यूरोपीय देश कर्ज चुकाने के संकट से जूझ रहे हैं और चिंता जताई जा रही है कि स्पेन और इटली भी इसकी चपेट में आ सकते हैं।

अमेरिकी शेयर बाजार में आई गिरावट ने भारत और जापान समेत अन्य एशियाई बाजारों को भी अपनी चपेट में ले लिया है। सेंसेक्स शुक्रवार को 400 अंकों से ज्यादा नीचे चला गया है, जबकि निफ्टी में भी 130 अंकों से ज्यादा की गिरावट देखी जा रही है।

अमेरिका में बिकवाली को देखते हुए भारतीय बाजारों में भी बिकवाली शुरू हो गई है। निवेशक सुरक्षित जगह पैसा लगाना चाहते हैं। जापान के निक्केई में भी साढ़े तीन फीसदी से ज्यादा की गिरावट दर्ज हुई है। वहीं दक्षिण कोरिया का कोस्पी चार फीसदी से ज्यादा गिरा है।

Sensex at 13-month low

10:40 am: Sensex at 13-month low of 17,334, down by 359 points. Infosys plunges to 2-year low of Rs 2,600. Nifty at 5,200.

10:21 am: Nifty is at 5,220, its high of the day. CNX IT is the biggest loser among indices, giving up 3.2%. Sensex at 17,326, down by 366 points.

10:05 am: HPCL, BPCL, ONGC gain as crude oil falls to around $86 a barrel. ONGC is the only stock in the Sensex that is in positive territory (0.5%). Sensex slips further to 17247,  Nifty at 5,208.

9:55 am: IT stocks slump. TCS slips 5% to Rs 1,045. Sensex at 17,265, down 427 points, Nifty at 5,197, lower by 134 points.

9:31 am: Reliance Industries shares fall below Rs 800. Sterlite and many other stocks hit 52-week lows. Sensex at 17,273, still down by 420 points.

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex plunged by 467 points in early trade on heavy selling by funds and investors in line with melting global markets amid worries over the US economy and the European debt crisis.

The 30-share Sensex, which had lost nearly 620 points in the previous three straight sessions, tanked another 466.78 points to trade at 17,226.40 points in the first few minutes of trade.

Nearly 14 billion shares changed hands, the busiest trading day in more than a year. AFP

Morgan Stanley ups gold

Morgan Stanley raised its price forecasts for gold and silver on Thursday, citing enhanced contagion risk from the European debt crisis and continued uncertainty over US macroeconomic outlook.

The investment bank said the possibility of renewed US quantitative easing would likely support investor demand and boost the prices for safe-haven commodities.

"Commodities gained in July, outperforming both equities and bonds... Precious metals led the space higher, gaining 9.5% in July (silver was the best performer). Ongoing sovereign debt and economic growth concerns fueled demand for gold and silver," analyst Hussein Allidina said in a note.

Morgan Stanley raised its 2011 gold price forecast by 8% to $1,511 per ounce, while it lifted its 2011 silver price outlook by 15% to $36.21 per ounce.

The bank also lifted its gold and silver price outlook for the coming year and said it retained its conviction that underlying growth and challenges in the supply chain would deliver rising prices into 2012.

"Given current market anxieties regarding debt and growth, silver prices are likely to revisit their recent highs as all of the drivers for the Sep-2010 to Apr-2011 price surge remain intact," Allidina said.

Spot gold climbed to an all-time peak above $1,681 an ounce on Thursday, while silver scaled a record high of $49.51 an ounce in April.

Morgan Stanley said in base metals, copper remained its most favored exposure, followed by aluminium.

Dow likely to drop to 10,600

The rough ride for equities may not be over, according to the charts. After losing 500 points on Thursday, the Dow could drop another 700 point before finding some support, Darryl Guppy, CEO of Guppytraders.com told CNBC on Friday morning.

"With the head and shoulder pattern in the Dow, it's giving us a downside target projection of around 10,600," Guppy said, after Wall Street suffered its worst sell-off since early 2009.

Guppy believes the 3 major US indices - Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq are likely to hit their downside targets.

"The key factor is we are now beyond the crossroads," he warned, "For instance the S&P, we've moved below the neckline value and we`ve moved below the neckline value in the Nasdaq."

He thinks the Nasdaq could hit 2300, a 250 point move down from Thursday's close; and the S&P 500 could hit 1140.

The Dow and the S&P 500 shed over 4% on Thursday. The S&P is now in correction territory, having lost more than 10% since its April 29 high.

The selling continued well into Asia, with the Nikkei falling as much as 4 percent in early Asia trade.

Sensex plunges over 400 points

Indian equity benchmarks crashed in the opening trade on the back of fears of another round of recession in the world's biggest economy US. 

Markets across the globe were on sellers' radar. US equity markets were down 4-5% yesterday. Today Asian markets cracked 2-5%.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 17,256, down 436 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 135 points to 5,195.

Market breadth was pathetic - about 35 shares were declining for every one share gaining.

All major heavyweights were under selling pressure. L&T, ICICI Bank and SBI were down 3-4%. Jaiprakash Associates plunged 5.5%.

Metal stocks too were on sellers' radar. Hindalco, Sterlite, SAIL and Sesa Goa dn 3.5-5%.

Realty major DLF was down 3%. Shares of India's largest lender SBI fell 2.5%.

Cairn India slipped 5% as crude declined to USD 86 a barrel yesterday.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group companies shares - Reliance Power, Reliance Capital, Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Communications lost 4%.

Technology stocks too were bleeding - TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech declined 2.5-4%.

However, BPCL gained 1% on decline in crude oil prices.

BL Kashyap lost another 11.5% today.

Gammon Infra, IVRCL, Lanco Infra, Triveni Engg and Punj Lloyd slipped 4.5-6%. Indiabulls Real and HDIL were down 5%.