Credit Suisse Shares Fall 20%, Dow Plunges 500 Points

Shares in Credit Suisse dived to a fresh all-time low for the 2nd consecutive day after a top investor in the Swiss bank said it would not be able to provide any more cash due to regulatory restrictions.

The stock had dropped as much as 30% at one point in trade and was last down 18%. A Reuters reports said that Saudi National Bank, could not provide the Swiss bank with any further financial assistance, sparking the latest downtrend.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones fell a whopping 540 points in trade, as banking stocks continued to be under pressure. The tech heavy Nadaq also dropped by 2% in trade. In the last few days, a crisis in the financial sector has centered around regional banks as Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed. Rising interest rates have left investors on the edge, with the next US Fed moved eagerly watched on March 22, 2023.

Meanwhile, Indian equities witnessed selling pressure for fifth consecutive day. Nifty opened positive, however spill over effect from European markets led index to erase its entire gains in the later part of the day to close with loss of 69 points at 16975 levels. Except Metals, Consumer Durables and Pharma, all sectors ended in red.

"Globally, investors remain cautious ahead of upcoming central bank meeting, although some relief was seen after US government's intervention to ease fears regarding ongoing banking crisis, coupled with the inline CPI inflation numbers. On Domestic front, Nifty closed below 17k zones after gap of five months, indicating the weak structure for the market. We expect market to remain in negative territory for next few days," Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.