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Several major stock markets across the world notched up gains today on buying at bargain levels, with Dow Jones Industrial Average soaring over 212 points, although Asian bourses remained weak.
After plunging to new lows on Monday, the Wall Street opened on a strong note as investors snapped up shares at attractive valuations amid hopes that Federal Reserve will move to bolster the ailing American economy.
Dow surged two per cent in the morning trade to cross the 11,000 mark. The benchmark index was trading at 11,022.56 points. Two other key US indices — S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite — also made significant gains. While S&P gained over 2.5 per cent at 1,147.60 points, the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed over three per cent to 2,432.83 points.
Global markets were battered severely yesterday — the first day of trading after S&P downgraded the US credit rating to ‘AA+’ from ‘AAA’ last Friday. Further, the persisting debt turmoil in Europe has also taken a toll on investor sentiment.
Towards the end of trading, European stocks had also recouped most of the losses made earlier in the day. London Stock Exchange’s benchmark FTSE 100 index, which plummeted over four per cent, was marginally up at 5,086.07 points.
German index Dax, that crashed over five per cent in the morning session, made a smart recovery and was down only slightly at 5,900.58 points. France’s key Cac 40 index was up nearly one per cent at 3,151.45 points, after falling more than three per cent in early trade.
However, Asian markets remained weak, even though most of them managed to recover from heavy losses incurred on Monday.
Among the major losers were Hong Kong’s key Hang Seng index (down nearly six per cent) and Japan’s Nikkei 225 (down about two per cent).
India’s BSE 30-share Sensex declined a little less than one per cent to close at 16,857.90 points, after wild fluctuations and tanking 550 points earlier in the day.
Investors are keeping a close watch on Federal Reserve’s monetary policy statement, expected later in the day. With expectations running high on Fed’s next step, any negative opinion could adversely impact the overall market sentiment, especially since fears are rising about another recession.
In one of the worst trading sessions since the 2008 financial meltdown, Wall Street crashed yesterday, with the Dow Jones plunging over 634 points.
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