Stocks spiral lower as oil pushes below USD 27

Global stocks suffered another rout today as New York oil prices slid to fresh 12-year lows under USD 27, heaping further pressure on financial markets from London and Paris to Russia and Shanghai.
Foreign exchange markets were shaken also, with the ruble falling to a historic low against the dollar.
Asia's main stock indices fell over 3 per cent, as did a number of indices in Europe wiping out the previous day's rally seen on hopes of Chinese stimulus.
With a loss of 3.5 per cent, London joined a number of other markets in bear territory -- a fall of more than 20 percent from a recent peak.

Wall Street was down 2.5 per cent approaching midday.
"It's not a pretty sight (on stock markets) with every single sector in the red... Only serving to prove that yesterday's bounce was a short-lived relief rally," said Brenda Kelly, head analyst at London Capital Group.

The International Monetary Fund's announcement yesterday that it had downgraded its global growth forecast for this year added to the sense of doom across trading floors.
Today, New York oil prices briefly fell below USD 27 a barrel owing largely to a glut of crude that is set to worsen as Iran pumps out extra barrels after the lifting of Western sanctions on Tehran.

It struck USD 26.85 a barrel, its lowest since September 2003.
Between the plunge in oil prices and lower global growth "investors are having to digest a pretty toxic cocktail of factors that are weighing heavily on sentiment," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
The latest slump in oil prices weighed on the shares of energy companies, while miners suffered also on generally weaker commodity markets.
In London, Royal Dutch Shell shares slumped 7.3 per cent, while among miners BHP Billiton tanked 7.4 per cent.
Shell was hit also by the announcement that it expects a sharp decline in full-year net profits, as plunging oil prices slash the earnings of leading energy companies.

The Anglo Dutch group forecast profit after tax of between USD 1.6 billion and USD 2.0 billion during 2015.
This compares with net profit of almost USD 15.0 billion in 2014.
Crude futures have lost three quarters of their value since mid-2014, hit by a perfect storm of a supply glut, weak demand, a slowing global economy and a strong dollar.
In the domestic market, 19 scrips out of the 30-share
Sensex pack finished higher.
Major gainers included Coal India (3.23 pc), Dr Reddy's (2.74 pc), GAIL (2.48 pc), Cipla (2.39 pc), Hero MotoCorp (1.58 pc), Lupin (1.37 pc), HUL (1.31 pc), TCS (1.29 pc), ONGC (1.20 pc), HDFC Bank (1.15 pc) and ITC (0.93 pc).

However, Wipro fell 1.97 per cent followed by Axis Bank 0.98 per cent, Tata Motors 0.87 per cent, ICICI Bank 0.58 per cent, Maruti 0.50 per cent and Tata Steel 0.49 per cent.
In broader markets, BSE Mid-Cap index and Small-Cap rose 0.90 per cent and 0.99 per cent, respectively.
Among BSE sectoral indices, realty surged 2.41 per cent followed by healthcare 2.38 per cent, oil&gas 1.55 per cent, power 1.50 per cent, energy 1.33 per cent, utilities 1.26 per cent, PSU 1.25 per cent and FMCG 0.76 per cent.
However, consumer durables and telecom were mild losers by 0.24 per cent and 0.09 per cent, respectively.

The market breadth turned green as 1,671 stocks rose while 1,026 declined and 177 ruled steady of the total 2,874 stocks.
Total turnover rose to Rs 3,196.09 crore from Rs 2,817.03 crore yesterday.