the market seems to be recovering this morning, but this is a clear demonstration over how skittish investors still are. dubai has been building some of the more ridiculous/obscene buildings and projects lately. their most recent craze has been to dump rucks and in the ocean until you have islands -- and a LOT of them -- and then build wild structures on top of that.
Dubai Debt Troubles Push Down Stocks in U.S and AsiaWall Street turned sharply lower at the open on Friday, as traders scrambled to play catch-up after sharp downturns in Asian and European markets over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Investors were spooked by reports that Dubai World, the emirate’s investment vehicle, was seeking to suspend repayments on all or part of its $59 billion in debt. That pushed shares down more than 3 percent on European markets on Thursday; Asia markets posted similar declines on Friday.
In early trading the Dow Jones industrial average was down 1.8 percent or 190 points. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell 2.2 percent or 24 points, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq slipped 2.1 percent or 46 points. The markets will close at 1 p.m. Friday after being closed Thursday for Thanksgiving. The bond markets close at 2 p.m.
Overseas, in late afternoon trading, European markets recovered slightly after sharp losses on Thursday. The FTSE 100 in London was up 6.92 points, or 0.14 percent, while the DAX in Frankfurt rose 6.04 points or 0.011 percent. In Paris, the CAC 40 increased by 10.51 points or 0.24 percent.
Asian markets fell sharply on Friday. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong declined 4.8 percent and South Korea’s key market gauge, the Kospi, dropped 4.7 percent. The Nikkei 225 index in Japan and the Taiex in Taiwan both sagged 3.2 percent.
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