Stock Market: All silent on Dalal Street; equity doomsday worries investors

Spread the love

By S Jha

New Delhi, March 15: For long critics had warned that the US Federal Reserve would hand over the global economy to the wolves of recession. On Wednesday, the doomsday fear looked real, as Europe went under the hammer, with banking stocks getting butchered. European indices were mauled with the re-emergence of apprehensions that all is not well with Credit Suisse Bank.

European indices closed with over three per cent cuts. The bloodbath had battered the Indian indices in the day. The US bourses too went on freefall by afternoon of the trade. Silicon Valley Bank certainly appears not to be lonely in collapsing, as some of its peers are now being feared to be in too bad shape to survive the wave of banking implosion. Credit Suisse Bank had tanked by over 30 per cent in the day even while the management of the financial institution sought to allay fears by claiming that they are in sound health.

Dow Jones was trading with loss of over 550 points in the afternoon session. The consensus view among the analysts suggests that the US Federal Reserve has certainly plunged the financial institutions into the nails’ bed with aggressive rate hikes in the course of over one year.

Vietnam sought to break ranks with the global Central banks and shun the herd mentality by going for surprise rate cuts on Wednesday. Vietnam became the first country to reverse the rate hike spree, fearing that the country was walking the wrong path in copying the global Central banks.

Several of the independent economists in India have also become vocal in their demands for not only a pause on the rate hikes by the Reserve Bank of India but even possible cuts to boost the confidence in the economy.

Only nine stocks ended in green in the 30-share Sensex, which was led by Asian Paints, which has been seen to be rising with falling crude prices and losing when there is a spike in the crude oil prices. Larson and Toubro, which has recently said that it would focus on high technology, regained its bullish momentum, as the scrip had gone past Rs 2200 level, but ended at Rs 2175.

Nifty gave up its crucial 17000 level to close at 16972, with the analysts concurring that the equity markets are in certain downturn. Bank Nifty has now slumped close to 39000 level.