Nifty Futures on SGX down 1%

The Niftty Futures on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) is quoted 27.95 points lower (down one per cent) than the 2,843.40-level at which the Nifty Futures closed on the National Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

Asian stock markets tumbled on Thursday as more signs of a sharp downturn in the US economy spurred investors to dump shares of exporters like Sony and Samsung. Major Asian Indices like Nikkei 225 are down nearly 5 per cent.

Investors reacted nervously to the US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's announcement that the government's $700 billion financial rescue package won't purchase troubled assets from banks as originally planned.

The Treasury will instead rely on buying stakes in banks and encouraging them to resume more normal lending, reported news agencies.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average fell 456.87 points, or 5.25 per cent, to 8,214.59 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dived 5.13 per cent to 13,224.58 points. Markets in Australia, South Korea and Taiwan fell more than 4 per cent.

In Asia, only the Shanghai Composite Index traded in the positive territory, up 3.54 per cent as the Chinese government's $586 billion economic stimulus package announced on Sunday continued to underpin sentiment.

Grim news from US companies continue to weigh on stocks overnight, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing 4.73 per cent lower at 8,282.66 for the third consecutive day, while the Nasdaq was down 5.17 per cent to 1,499.21.

The US dollar is trading at 95.64 to the Japanese yen and 0.8026 to euro even as crude oil prices slipped overnight to $56, down 5.34 per cent, on grim US economic outlook.