What's driving the markets down?

At 12.34 am, the Sensex is down 545.22 points at 15007.45, while the Nifty is down 162.05 points at 4366.35. About 1,101 shares have advanced, 1,804 shares declined, and 78 shares remained unchanged.

The Wall Street resumed its downward skid yesterday, falling sharply as renewed concerns about soured home loans blew away what had looked like a solid recovery rally. Wall Street has been concerned about lenders after some loans made to borrowers with poor credit have gone bad, and that anxiety contributed to the market's big plunge last week. Tuesday's trading showed how vulnerable the market remains, and how any advance can quickly evaporate.

Investors remain worried about credit getting tighter because of the faltering housing market. On Tuesday, a housing index released by Standard & Poor's showed that US home prices fell for a fifth consecutive month in May by the steepest amount in about 16 years.

The Dow Jones fell 146.32 points, or 1.1%, to 13,211.99, while investors seeking safety moved into bonds. It fell after being up as much as 140 points during the session. The Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 18.64 points, or 1.26%, to 1,455.27, and the Nasdaq Composite index fell 37.01 points, or 1.43%, to 2,546.27.

On the Nymex, crude also breached the USD 78 per barrel on expectations that inventory reports will show a decline in stockpiles last week. Reports of fresh bout of violence in Nigeria also pushed prices higher.

Taking a cue from US markets, Asian markets slipped into the red today. Japan's Nikkei tumbled 1.12%, or 193.31 points, at 17,055.58; Singapore's Straits Times plunged 1.3%, or 45.99 points, at 3,501.67; Taiwan Weighted slipped 0.38%, or 34.84 points, at 9,252.41; and South Korea's Seoul Composite declined 1.77%, or 34.13 points, at 1,899.14.