Stock markets plunge: US bailout fails to alleviate fears

Stock markets around the world experienced sharp fall yesterday after Wall Street finished Friday's volatile session in negative territory.

Reports from across the world shows that most of the bourses plunged drastically breaking previous records. Some of the stock markets were forced to suspend trading as the fall continued. The key share indexes in the UK, France and Germany had all fallen by more than 5% by early afternoon.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange, prime bourse of Bangladesh, also witnessed a sharp fall pushing down the DSE General Index (DGEN), the benchmark index, dropping 73 points or over 2.0 per cent to close at 2,928 points from 3,001 points on Sunday.

The US stock markets fell sharply on Friday after the Congress passed a huge financial rescue plan, as optimism that built up earlier in the day evaporated in late trading.

At the close on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen 157.47 points, or 1.50 per cent, to end at 10,325.38, capping a horrid week that saw blue chips slide more than seven per cent.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq slumped 15.05 points, or 1.48 per cent, to 1,947.39 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index shed 1.35 per cent, or 15.05 points, to 1,099.23.

Britain's benchmark stock index, the FTSE 100, lost 220.11 to 4,760.14 - a 4.42 percent fall. The declines were led by the banking industry, with the mining and oil industries also suffering drops. HBOS PLC's share price dropped 15.7 percent, while the Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC fell 13.6 percent.

Germany's DAX index fell 4.22 percent to 5,552.27. France's CAC-40 index dropped 4.85 percent to 3,882.81. In Russia, the RTS stock index tumbled more than 7 percent in first 20 minutes of trading.

The South Korean market plunged on Monday, extending its losses for the sixth consecutive trading session. Stocks lost ground as a U.S. rescue plan failed to restore investor confidence in markets around the globe. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index or KOSPI tumbled 60.9 points, or 4.29%, to finish the session at 1,358.75, its lowest level since January 2007.

Trading was suspended on Russia's main stock markets twice Monday as shares went into free fall on the back of falling oil prices and deepening fears about the global economy.

Japan's stock market has fallen to its lowest level in more than four years on growing worries about a global economic slump caused by the U.S. financial crisis.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index lost 465.05 points, or 4.25 percent, to close Monday at 10,473.09.

The Australian stock market closed at its lowest level in almost three years on Monday, extending losses for a third straight trading session. Stocks fell across the board after Wall Street finished Friday's volatile session sharply lower amid fears that the U.S. government's financial rescue plan may not avert a recession in the world's largest economy. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed down 155 points or 3.3% at 4,540.4 and the broader All Ordinaries index shed 158.1 points or 3.4% to finish at 4,544.7.

The Swiss Stock Exchange opened with a 3.7 per cent drop in early trading on Monday as uncertainty continued over the state of global financial markets.

Within the first 15 minutes of trading, the Swiss Market Index (SMI) of 20 leading companies had dropped to 6625.82 points. The country's largest bank, UBS, recorded the sharpest tumble - ten per cent - before regaining two per cent.

Turkish stocks dropped nearly 9 percent and the lira weakened almost 4 percent on Monday as global worries grow with the fear of extending to Europe and the euro loses ground against the dollar.

The benchmark 100-index of the Istanbul Stock Market (ISE) fell sharply by 8.62 percent in early trading to 31,574 points as the lira dropped 3.7 percent to a six-month low of 1.3610 compared with Friday's 1.3120.

The Saudi stock market, the Arab world's largest, suffered huge losses on Monday, shedding almost 10 percent as shares in other Gulf states also slumped amid the global financial turmoil.

The Saudi Tadawul All-Shares Index (TASI) finished down 9.81 percent at 6,726.60 points, its lowest level in more than a year. It was the biggest single-day loss in several years.

Dubai stock market was down 4.5 per cent, after falling 7 per cent on Sunday. The slump brings year to date losses to 38 per cent. Abu Dhabi fell 3.7 per cent on Monday meaning that the market has lost a fifth of its value since January. Blue chip property stocks Emaar and Aldar were particularly affected, as overseas investors liquidated positions, according to reports.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slid 5 percent to 16,803.76. Markets in mainland China, Australia, South Korea, India, Singapore and Thailand also fell sharply. Indonesia's key index plummeted 10 percent, it's biggest one-day drop ever.

Trading in mainland China resumed after a weeklong holiday break with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index sinking 5.2 percent to 2,173 by mid-afternoon. Banks and other financial shares saw heavy declines. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank fell 7 percent and Bank of China slipped 3.6.