Further weakening on the cards with a negative opening

Indian stock markets have been caught in bear's grip and closed in the red for the fourth consecutive trading session on Thursday tracking weak cues from other Asian and European markets and weak earnings by leading index constituents. The Sensex shed 807 points to close at 22,952, crashed below 23,000-level; and the Nifty tumbled 239 points to end at 6976, below the psychological key level of 7,000. Both the benchmark indices lost over 3% each yesterday for the first time in 13 months on account of massive sell-off in bank, power, realty and other stocks coupled with weak global cues. The broader market declined in line with the benchmartk indices with the BSE midcap and BSE smallcap indices slumping 2.6% and 3.4%, respectively, prompting investors to now move to safe assets such as gold and developed-world bonds.

The Indian rupee ended lower by 45 paise to more than 29-month low against the American currency to 68.30 per dollar on fresh dollar demand from banks and importers in view of sharp fall in equities amid foreign capital outflows.

US Stock market fell for a fifth straight day as concerns about global economic weakness intensified. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 254.56 points, or 1.6%, to 15,660.18. Dow had been down as much as 411 points. The S&P 500 lost 22.78 points, or 1.2%, quoting 1,829.08. The Nasdaq composite fell 16.76 points, or 0.4%, to 4,266.84.

WTI crude oil fell for the sixth day in a row, sliding USD 1.24, or 4.5%, to USD 26.21 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils, dropped 78 cents, or 2.5%, to USD 30.06 a barrel in London. Whereas Gold has hit a year-high of around USD 1,261 an ounce, as it gains support through its perceived status as a store of safe value in times of market stress.

European stocks have closed sharply lower as investors once again fretted over global economic growth and the rout in oil prices. The Stoxx Europe 600 index slumped 3.7% to 303.58. Germany's DAX benchmark index fell 2.9% to close at 8,752.87 while Britain's FTSE 100 shed 2.4% to 5,536.97. France's CAC 40 dropped 4.1% to 3,896.71.

Markets in Asia were lower on Friday, after global equities were caught into the bear's grip and Japanese shares extended losses as the yen strengthened. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 4.9% to a fresh 15-month low as the yen soared to a 15-month high. South Korea’s Kospi index fell 1.2%. New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index lost 1%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slid 0.82%.

While on domestic front, a SGX Nifty 50 index future for February series traded up 100 points at 7,018. Indian markets are likely to open in red as Japanese stock market has opened in the weak.