US mkts decline on recession fears; Dow ends below 12K

The US markets on Friday, were hammered yet again, pushing the Dow below the key psychological level of 12,000, after fed action to stem the credit crunch failed to offset the damage from February job losses seen as the most blatant sign yet of recession.

The Dow Jones ended 147 points down to close at 11,894, the Nasdaq ended 8 points lower to shut shop at 2,212, the S&P 500 closed down 10.97 points at 1,293.37.

Recession fears return

But even as the US Central bank tried to ease the pressure, economic data painted another gloomy picture.

The labor department reported that the economy lost 63,000 payroll jobs in February, after losing 22,000 jobs in January.
This is the second 2-month fall in US payroll numbers since  2003.

Analysts say this fall in jobs data is a clear sign that businesses have become too pessimistic about the economic outlook to add new employees or even replace those that leave.

The poor jobs data is being read as the strongest evidence yet, that the economic expansion has ended.

A look at how the Indian ADRs performed: