US $250 bn lost, Nikkei hits third biggest drop

HUGE LOSS: This is the steepest fall since a 15 percent drop in October 1987.

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New Delhi: It was a stormy day in the Japanese stock market, the world's second largest.

The Nikkei closed, down nearly 10 per cent. This is the third biggest one-day drop on record.

The spiralling credit crisis prompted a sell-off on the Nikkei indices. It erased more than $250 billion in equity value.

Nikkei stands slid below 10,000 on Tuesday for the first time since December 2003.

Analysts speculate that the world economy is entering a depression, not just a recession.

The International Monetary Fund has presented its semi-annual report on the global economy. The IMF states that it’s forecast for the global growth stands at 3.9 per cent and at the same for 2009 is revised to three per cent.

Simply put, growth of under three per cent is considered a global recession.

The chaos spilled over onto the streets in Hong Kong, where investors battled police outside the Hong Kong headquarters of Bank of China.

Protesters swarmed other banks in Hong Kong as well.

Meanwhile, European countries are still scrambling to control the damage. After the UK announced an 87 billion dollar package to bail out British banks, the Italian cabinet passed a crisis package to help its banks.