Europe debt crisis engulfs world bourses

Mumbai, (IANS) Benchmark indices for Indian equities fell to two-month lows on investor concerns that another financial crisis stemming from Greece's souring finances could be in the offing.

The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) fell 4.5 percent or 789.6 points to end at 16,769.11 points Friday.

The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too moved down and closed the week at 5,018.05 points, down 259.95 points or 4.92 percent.

The selling was rampant and spread across sectors. The BSE midcap index lost 4.88 percent, while the BSE small cap index shed 5.41 percent.

Across bourses, fear was palpable about the possible impact of the Greek crisis, triggered by potential debt default even after a proposed bailout by fellow Euro zone countries, that could engulf other countries and hit financial markets.

In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei ended 6.68 percent lower at its weekly close Friday at 10,364.59 points. In a truncated week of trade due to holidays, the Chinese Shanghai composite index closed at 2,835.28 points, down 1.23
percent from its previous week's close.

The Hang Seng of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange closed at 19,920.29 points, down 5.63 percent, while the South Korean Kospi lost 5.4 percent to close at 1,674.5 points.

European stocks were hit hard by the debt crisis.

London's FTSE was down a whopping 7.74 percent to close the week at 5,123 points. Its French peer CAC 40 was down 11.11 percent at 3,392.59 points while the German DAX closed at 5,715.09 points, down 6.8 percent.

In the US, the Wall Street saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummet to its sharpest single day drop, which left both government and the exchange's authorities flummoxed. The Dow fell 347.8 points Thursday, which was first
attributed to a technical glitch.

Investigations are on to find out the source of the fall.

For the week ending Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average shed 5.71 percent at 10,380.43 points, the Nasdaq lost 7.95 percent to close Friday at 2,265.64 points, and the Standard and Poor's 500 moved down 6.39 percent at 1,110.88 points.