Asian, European markets tumble again

LONDON: World markets on Monday woke up to another nightmarish day, as Asian and European stocks wobbled under the spectre of economic slowdown, with Japanese benchmark Nikkei nosediving to a 26-year low.
    
Starting from where they left on Friday, the Asian bourses except South Korea's Kospi Index, and the European markets saw themselves washed away in recessionary fears and mounting negative global cues.
    
In the Asian region, Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng, China's Shanghai SE Composite IX and Singapore's Straits Times, crashed on an average of eight per cent.
    
Bogged down by weak Asian markets, the European shares tumbled in the range of four to six per cent, as worldwide efforts to stave off recession failed to assuage investor's fears.
    
Among Europe's major benchmark indices, London Stock Exchange's FTSE 100, France's Cac 40 and Germany's Dax were trading in the negative zone.
    
Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 took one of the worst beating, as it tumbled by 6.36 per cent to 7,162.90 points, reportedly its lowest close since 1982.
    
Appreciating Yen, which has now touched a 13-year high against the US dollar and increasing economic slowdown fears have been battering the country's shares in recent weeks.
    
However, propped up by a cut in key rates, South Korea's Kospi swarm against the negative tide and closed higher by nearly one per cent at 946.45 points.
    
South Korea's central bank has slashed the key interest rates to 4.25 per cent from five per cent.
    
India's 30-share index, Sensex, was less hit compared to its counterparts in Asia. Trimming the losses towards the end, the benchmark index closed at 8,509.56 points, down 2.20 per cent.
    
Hong Kong's Hang Seng plummeted more than 1,600 points or 12.7 per cent to 11,015.84 points. This is reportedly the biggest loss in a single trading session since 1991.
    
Singapore's Straits Times declined 8.33 per cent to 1,600.28 points.
    
Further, Chinese stocks too nosedived 6.32 per cent to 1,723.35 points, reportedly the lowest close since September 2006.
    
Meanwhile, the G-7 nations warned that strengthening Yen is a threat to the economic stability and promised coordinated efforts to arrest the currency's rising value.
    
In the Asia-Pacific region, another victim of the oscillating fortunes was the Philippines market. The benchmark Philippine SE IDX tumbled 12.27 per cent to 1,713.83, after one of the nation's biggest banks, Banco de Oro Unibank, recorded a hefty loss of 1.3 billion Pesos (over 26 million dollars) for the second quarter.
     
On the other hand, UK's FTSE 100 plunged 4.68 per cent to 3,701.50 points while France's Cac 40 dropped 6.24 per cent to 2,994.56 points. Germany's Dax fell 4.30 per cent to 4,110.84 points.
    
Moreover, American markets are expected to track the trend in Asian and European bourses when they open later in the day.
    
On Friday, all the three major indices -- Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index, were down more than three per cent.