US markets plunge to the worst quarterly loss

01 Oct 2011 Evaluate

The US markets plunged on Friday, as selling accelerated in the final hour of trading and that led the worst quarterly loss for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since the end of 2008, as the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and fears of a global slowdown overshadowed improving economic condition in the US. Euro-zone inflation accelerated to a 3% annual pace in September, effectively quashing hopes of a possible European Central Bank interest-rate cut. Also, German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler stated German lawmakers were unlikely to back any further increase in the European Financial Stability Facility beyond the measures approved.

Ahead of the opening bell, the Commerce Department stated that personal income in August fell a seasonally adjusted 0.1%, the first decline since October 2009. Though, Consumer spending increased a seasonally adjusted 0.2%. September’s reading of consumer sentiment rose to 59.4, recovering from a nearly three-year low of 55.7 in August, according to a Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan gauge. Meanwhile, manufacturing activity in the Chicago region, expanded at a more rapid pace, rising to 60.4 in September from 56.5 in August.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 240.60 points, or 2.16 percent, to 10,913.40. The Standard and Poor's 500 closed lower by 28.98 points, or 2.50 percent, to 1,131.42, while the Nasdaq composite lost 65.36 points, or 2.63 percent, to 2,415.40.

The Indian ADRs closed in red on Friday, ICICI Bank was down by 2.13%, HDFC Bank was down by 1.54%, Tata Motors was down by 0.75%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab was down by 0.74% and Infosys Technologies was down by 0.68%.

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