US Markets ended lower on 27th April 2010

US stocks had their worst drop in months falling to session lows in the final minutes of trading, after the debt ratings on Greece and Portugal were downgraded.

The CBOE volatility index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, shot up more than 30%, its biggest one-day jump since October 2008, finishing above 22.

Investors shrugged off some encouraging US economic data: a gauge of consumer confidence jumped to 57.9 in April, the highest since just before the financial crisis in September 2008, and home prices fell 0.9% in February.

At closing bell, The Dow Jones lost 213.04, or 1.9%, to close at 10,991.99, snapping a six-day winning streak. It was the biggest point and percentage decline since February. The S&P 500 shed 2.3% and the Nasdaq dropped 2%.

The dollar posted its biggest one-day percentage gain against the euro in a year after a downgrade of Greece and Portugal’s credit ratings raised fears the euro zone’s debt problems were spreading.

The dollar drove many commodities lower such that the CRB commodity index dropped 1.9%. June crude futures sold off but found support at the $ 82 level. It’s down 2.1% at $ 82.44 per barrel.

One of the lone exceptions came from gold futures. June gold surged 0.7% higher at 1162.20 dollar per ounce. Its status as a safe haven helped it extend the advance.

Indian ADRs ended down on Tuesday. In IT space, Wipro was down 4.18% at $ 22.48, Infosys was down 3.17% at $ 60.48 and Satyam Computers was down 2.75% at $ 5.3 while Patni Computers was up 1.8% at $ 26.

In Banking space, ICICI Bank was down 4.5% at $ 40.97 and HDFC Bank was down 3.1% at $ 148.71. In Telecom space, Tata Communication was down 1.64% at $ 12.02 and MTNL was down 0.92% at $ 3.23.

In other sectors, Tata Motors was down 3.5% at $ 19.88, Sterlite Industries was down 3.17% at $ 18.01 and Dr Reddy’s Labs was down 2.86% at $ 27.16.

No related posts.