Pre-market: Another dismal start in the offing

Markets are expected to post steep cuts in opening trades following global sell-off on renewed concerns of global recession and health of European banks. The Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange declined 84 points, at 4,854.

Investors once gain were shunning risk as investors they confronted a grim economic outlook in the United States and European banks could be facing higher borrowing costs for the US Dollar loans. There were concerns that banks may have exposure to high debt from the countries in Euro-zone.

Overnight the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 3.7%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index was off 4.5% and the Nasdaq Composite Index gave up 5.2%.

In Asia stocks tumbled across the board mirroring losses on Wall Street. The Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 2.7%, China’s Shanghai Composite gave up 0.9% and Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average declined 2.2%.

Back in India, most of the technical analysts said that the Indian markets may have entered a bear patch as the benchmark indices have fallen 20% from the November peak. Analysts recommend investors not create fresh positions as they expect the Sensex to slip below 15,500 levels and stocks would be available at much cheaper levels in the near term.