India, Hang Seng, Nikkei worst performers in '08 so far

 It is sea of red for global equity markets since the start of 2007. Most of the Asia opened the year on a weak note with heavy selling pressure seen in Strait Times, Hang Seng and Nikkie. However India was an exception which continued to outperform for the first week of January. But since the last week there has been a sharp selling. Today the damage has been phenomenal and has pulled markets down significantly.  This fall has made India the top loser from January 1st till date followed by Singapore’s Strait Times down nearly 15% followed by Hang Seng and Nikkie.

The Indian markets are the worst hit today with Sensex down 1200 points and Nifty down over 400 points below 5300 levels. CNX Midcap down 10% in today’s session. The fronliners are down 20% along with madcap and smallcap stocks losing significant market cap.There has been strong unwinding in stocks across sectors. The markets are down over 16% from the highs. Breadth has worsened and the advance decline ratio is over 1:44. According to analyst the scenario is similar to the May 2006 fall. There is pressure due to triggering of margin call.