The 60th anniversary of India?s Independence saved its equity bourses on Wednesday from a major sell off that swept Europe and Asia as the subprime mortgage crisis in the US deepened.
Major Asian indices were down 1-6% on Wednesday. The biggest casualty in the region was the Jakarta Composite, which lost 6.44%, or 139.55 points, to close at 2,029.08 points. The Nikkei 225 lost 369 points, or 2.19%, to close at 16,475.61 points, its lowest closing in calendar 2007. The Nikkei has lost 4.35% since the beginning of this year.
London?s FTSE lost 1.21%, reflecting the overnight plunge in the US, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 207.61 points, or 1.57%, to close at 13,028.92 points. Market experts feel that the Indian market would continue to mirror the mood in global markets until the enormity of the US subprime mortgage crisis is better understood.
Anil Advani, head of research at SBICAP Securities, said, ?The Indian market would continue to be affected until the poison of the US subprime mortgage crisis is completely removed from the system and banks and entities that are involved and stuck in the present crisis completely disclose the depth of the problem. Only then would global markets stabilise and the Indian market start reflecting the strong domestic fundamentals.? Market analysts feel that the Indian market would be highly volatile on Thursday.