United States sharemarkets were again savaged yesterday following bankruptcy concerns over giant car manufacturer General Motors.
For the second time this week US bourses recorded declines of about 4% as spooked investors soaked up more bad news from financial markets and fled equities.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 4.08%, plummeting to a new 12-year low; the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down 4%; and the Standard and Poors 500 repeated its performance earlier in the week to hit its lowest level since 1996, down 4.25%.
Monday's global markets' downturn was sparked by a new US Government bail-out for ailing insurer AIG, which booked massive losses, and was further compounded when Europe's biggest bank, HSBC, announced large losses.
The New Zealand stock exchange was also trading down yesterday, losing 1.35% during the day and closing down 0.8%, while Australia's ASX was down 1.7% prior to closing. Weakness was also running through the Asian markets.
ABN Amro Craigs broker Peter McIntyre said while the ANZ-National Bank result yesterday was not great, it could have been worse, and the market reacted by showing some resilience, although trade volumes were light.
Worries in the US about the financial system's health hit bank stocks again yesterday as investors focused on the possibility the troubles of General Electric's embattled financial arm could lead to a ratings downgrade for the entire company, Reuters reported.
