Markets Trade in Red

The Global Markets opened on a mixed note. U.S. stocks slumped, giving the Dow Jones Industrial Average its biggest two-day decline since December 2008, amid investors concern that policy makers are running out of tools to avoid another global economic recession. European stocks tumbled to a two- year low as the Federal Reserve signaled significant downside risks to the world’s largest economy and Moody’s Investors Service downgraded three U.S. banks. This morning  Asian stocks pared declines after finance chiefs from the Group of 20 nations said they would address heightened downside risks from sovereign debt and a slowing global economy. In commodities, Oil rose from a six-week low in New York as investors speculated the biggest weekly decline in almost two months is exaggerated before central bankers from the Group of 20 nations meet in Washington to discuss the global economic slowdown. Gold rose for the first day in three, paring its worst weekly performance in more than four months, as concern the world economy will falter stoked demand for haven investments. Copper dropped to the lowest level in a year as the deepening European debt crisis and threat of a U.S. recession spurred investor concerns that demand for raw materials will slow. Nickel, zinc and lead fell. The markets extended Thursday's losses and opened weak following negative global cues. The BSE Sensex trades at 16240, down 121 points and the Nifty trades at 4,881, down 42 points. Markets, across the globe, have taken a beating as sovereign debt has become a strong possibility and that is most likely to drag the Sensex further. Among the sectoral indices, BSE Metal, Realty and Bankex are leading the losses, down 2-3 per cent each. The overall market breadth is negative as 1,293 stocks have declined against 332 advancing ones, on the BSE.