Thursday proved another bad day for the US markets with major indices losing over one to two percent as eurozone debt contagion worries continued, coupled with disappointing economy news. A read on manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region hit its lowest since September. Its general economic index fell to minus 5.8 in May from 8.5 in April. A gauge of future US economic activity fell in April for the first time in seven months. Conference Board reported that its leading economic indicators showed a decline of 0.1% in April after a gain of 0.3% in March. Also, the weekly claims for jobless benefits remained at same levels. The Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims were unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 370,000 in the week ended May 12 from an upwardly revised figure of 370,000 the prior week.
In Europe condition remained turbulent; news that some Greek banks face emergency funding needs hurt sentiment and caused a further decline in risk assets. Fitch Ratings downgraded Greece's credit rating by a notch on “heightened risk” that it will exit the euro zone. While, Spain's borrowing costs were on the rise at a bond auction.
The Dow Jones industrial average slumped by 156.44 points or 1.24 percent, to 12,442.11. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 19.90 points, or 1.50 percent, to 1,304.90, while the Nasdaq Composite Index declined by 60.35 points, or 2.10 percent, to 2,813.69.
Indian ADRs closed mostly in red on Thursday, HDFC Bank 0.79%, ICICI Bank 0.52%,Wipro down by 0.05%, Infosys was down by 0.93% and Tata Motors was down by 0.26%.