Euro fears return to spook Wall Street, Asian markets

0 views

Skip to first unread message

RAJESH DESAI

unread,

Apr 5, 2012, 12:59:56 AM4/5/12

to LONGTERMINVESTORS, DAILY REPORTS, globalspeculators, STOCK BUFFS, stock...@googlegroups.com, equity-rese...@googlegroups.com, ai...@googlegroups.com

Hong Kong: It’s a good thing the Indian markets are closed for today: it’s a rotten day to be trading, given the widespread downbeat sentiment everywhere.

This morning, there’s been a huge and indiscriminate selloff across all the markets, including in the Nifty futures market. Indices are falling off the cliff, and the trading boards look very red.

What’s triggered it? A return of eurozone worries, centred this time around Spain, where a bond auction went horribly wrong and fared worse than expected and sent bond yields soaring.

That had the effect of dragging European markets down overnight, which in turn had a contagion effect on Wall Street. All three leading Wall Street indices were down sharply by about or in excess of 1 percent on what was their worse trading session in a month.

Reuters

This morning, much the same fears are driving indices down across much of the Asia-Pacific region, where some markets are coming back online after local holidays. One additional factor weighing on sentiment relates to Chinese banks: China’s Premier suggested that their excessive dominance would have to be ended.

As at 7.30 am IST, indices all around are diving. The Taiwan market is down the hardes, in excess of 2.3 percent at one point, but Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is not far behind, down about 1.7 percent. Japan’s Nikkei and Sydney’s S&P ASX too are down by about 1 percent each. Only Shanghai, returning after a three-day break, is holding its ground.

Nifty futures are trending down, although not as sharply as markets around the region. They’re now trading about seven-tenths of 1 percent down. If markets were open today, we’d have seen a sharp fall at the start.

Back home, the government has said explicitly that it will not review the taxation proposal in the Budget under the General Anti-Avoidance Rules. The move is certain to displease FIIs, and will compel them to review their investment choices. But at least it now provides clarity on the taxation provision.