Sensex slumps 4.56 per cent as fear of recession grips world

A benchmark index for Indian equities slumped almost five per cent this week on turmoil in the global bourses after the US Federal Reserve said the world economy could slide into another recession.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) tumbled 4.56 per cent or 771.77 points in the weekly trade. The 30-scrip index slumped 1.22 per cent to close at 16,162.06 points on Friday, the last trading day of the week.

This is the first weekly loss in the benchmark Sensex in the last four weeks.

The markets started the week on a negative note but rebounded smartly on the second trading day of the week.

However, the Sensex crashed 704 points or 4.13 per cent on Thursday, its worst fall in two-years, on global rout after the US Federal Reserve painted a gloomy outlook for the United States and the world economy.

The sentiments remained weak on Friday as well. Markets across the world continued their slide on the last trading day of the week, with India's benchmark Sensex closing 1.22 per cent down.

At the National Stock Exchange, the 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty also fell almost five per cent in the weekly trade. The Nifty closed 1.14 per cent down at 4,867.75 points on Friday, after a 4.08 per cent loss the previous day.

 "The bias is downward with Nifty support at 4,700 points, and if it breaks then we should be even prepared to see 4,300 points," Kishor P. Ostwal, Chairman and Managing Director of a capital market research firm CNI Research Ltd.

"On upper side 5,170 points is resistance, we can see Nifty touching 5,500 only if it crosses 5,170," Ostwal said.

Major Sensex losers on Friday were: Tata Motors, down 4.81 per cent at Rs.147.40; HDFC Bank, down 3.1 per cent at Rs.457.65; L&T, down 2.7 per cent at Rs.1,452.25 and Hero MotoCorp, down 2.45 per cent at Rs.2,037.65.

The gainers were Cipla, up 2.09 per cent at Rs 283.85; SBI, up 1.03 per cent at Rs1,955.50; Bharti Airtel, up 0.77 per cent at Rs 374.85 and Sun Pharma, up 0.59 per cent at Rs 471.10.

World markets slumped on panic selling this week.

Among the other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index closed 1.36 per cent down at 17,668.83 points on Friday after a drop of almost five percent the previous day. Chinese Shanghai Composite index ended 0.41 per cent lower at 2,433.16 points on Friday after slumping almost three per cent on Thursday.

The Japanese Nikkei closed 2.07 per cent lower at 8,560.26 points on Thursday. The Japanese markets were closed on Friday on account of a holiday.

European as well as American markets slumped on Wednesday and Thursday. The US markets registered biggest weekly loss since 2008. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 6.4 per cent and the S&P 500 index lost 6.5 per cent in the weekly trade.

However, the markets recovered Friday with most of them closing in the positive territory.

Britain's FTSE100 index closed 0.50 per cent higher at 5,066.81 points, the German DAX rose 0.63 per cent to 5,196.56 points and the French CAC 40 advanced 1.02 per cent higher at 2,810.11 points on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average of United States closed 0.35 per cent higher at 10,771.50 points and S&P 500 index rebounded 0.61 per cent to close at 1,136.43 points on Friday.