Bangalore: Indian stocks emerged as the best performers by giving investors the highest return of nearly 60 percent in 2009 so far. It has outperformed its global peers, including the U.S., the U.K. and China, which gave returns of 2.33 percent, 10.17 percent and 36.77 percent respectively.

According to an analysis of MSCI Barra indices, Indian stocks have provided a return of 59.30 percent year-to-date, against 34.37 percent gains provided by MSCI Barra’s emerging market index, covering all developing nations.

Among the emerging BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) nations, the Brazilian and Russian markets seemed to be slight closer competitors with gains of 56.89 percent and 41.61 percent respectively in the year so far.

The 30-share benchmark index of Indian stocks, Sensex, gained over 5,000 points in the year so far to settle at 14,764.64 points on June 26 compared to 9,600 levels on December 31, 2008.

Other emerging markets which gave over 50 percent returns so far this year include Indonesia with 55.85 percent and Chile with 51 percent.

Analyst believed that the decisive mandate in favor of Congress-led UPA in the recently concluded general elections helped Indian markets to rise on the positive global cues.

An analyst from a leading brokerage said, “The Indian stocks have been on a recovery path primarily in the past three months due to election results and on expectation of new government spurring the economic reforms in the country in the days to come.”

Meanwhile, other developed markets including Canada gave 25 percent returns, Sweden (21.42 percent), Norway (24.70 percent) and Japan (2.45 percent), according to the data.

Further, Indian stocks have also performed significantly better in the past three months by period up to June 26 and have given foreign investors returns of 62 percent.

Mumbai: In what was the biggest gain in a single day since Oct 31, 2008, a key index of the Indian equities markets soared more than 700 points, raising hopes that the rally that has kept the bourses in green for eight-nine weeks can be sustained.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 11,635.24 points, rose 731.5 points or 6.41 percent from the previous close to end trade at 12,134.75 points.

Similarly, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) gained 4.96 percent to close at 3,646.35 points.

Broader market indices also gained, with the BSE midcap index moving up 3.91 percent, while the BSE smallcap index was up 3.57 percent.

HONG KONG – Asian stock markets tumbled Tuesday, with Hong Kong’s index down nearly 4 percent, after relentless fears about the financial system and world economy drove Wall Street to its worst finish in more than a decade.

Every major market shuddered from losses across a range of sectors, from banks to technology firms, exporters and commodities, wiping out solid gains from the previous day.

Tokyo’s benchmark languished near a 26-year low as news that Nomura Holdings , Japan ’s biggest broker, will raise billions more in capital by selling shares added to worries about the financial sector.

Most Asian bourses advanced strongly Monday on reports the U.S. government may take a greater stake in tottering financial giant Citigroup .

But concerns that Citigroup and other banks will keep suffering severe losses flared overnight amid pessimism about a quick economic recovery and doubts the government can return the reeling financial system to working order.

As the Obama administration tried to pacify fears, saying it would launch a revamped bank rescue program this week, U.S. investors hammered stocks. The Dow Jones and Standard & Poor’s 500 indexes plummeted to their lowest closes since 1997.

“Investors are just selling out in disgust across the board — disgust with the market, disgust with the financial problems,” said Lorraine Tan, director of equities research at Standard & Poor’s in Singapore .

“The government seems to keep throwing in money, but there doesn’t seem to be any end to the declines or solutions to the problems,” she said.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 stock average lost 107.60 points, or 1.5 percent, to 7,268.56, but traded of its lows. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng sank 478.07, or 3.6 percent, to 12,697.01, while South Korea’s Kospi fell 3.2 percent to 1,063.88.

Shanghai’s benchmark, among the year’s best performers so far, dropped 4.3 percent as China’s central bank said the country’s economic downturn could worsen and warned the risk of deflation is “quite big” amid collapsing consumer demand. The bank’s report could temper expectations that China’s slump might be bottoming out and a recovery might be taking shape,

Elsewhere, Australia’s stock measure was off 0.6 percent, and Singapore’s benchmark lost 1.8 percent. Indexes in Singapore, Taiwan and India shed more than 1 percent.

Overnight, U.S. investors seemed unconvinced after regulators promised to ensure the viability of banks by providing capital and said they would start conducting “stress tests” on Wednesday to gauge the health of financial firms.

Amid the assurances, however, came more reports of financial gloom.

Struggling insurer American International Group Inc . said it’s evaluating “potential new alternatives” to tackle its financial problems amid reports it will soon announce a $60 billion loss and ask the government for more aid.

After the markets closed, JPMorgan Chase said it was slashing its quarterly dividend to preserve capital in case economic conditions drastically worsen.

The Dow plunged 250.89, or 3.4 percent, to 7,114.78. It last closed this low on May 7, 1997 when it finished at 7,085.65. The Dow hasn’t traded below the 7,000 mark since October 1997.

While S&P 500 managed to close above its Nov. 21 trading low, considered a key threshold among investors, it still took a beating. The benchmark fell 26.72, or 3.5 percent, to 743.33. It was the lowest close since April 11, 1997.

Stock futures suggested Wall Street would rise modestly Tuesday. Dow futures were up 52, or 0.7 percent, at 7,168 and S&P500 futures were up 6, or 0.8 percent, at 751.

Oil prices languished in Asian trade, with light, sweet crude for April delivery down 36 cents at $38.08 a barrel the New York Mercantile Exchange . The contract lost 4 percent, or $1.59, to settle at $38.44 overnight.

In currencies, the dollar strengthened to 95.16 yen from 94.43 yen. The euro was up slightly at $1.2719 from $1.2705.

SINGAPORE – Oil prices extended losses for a second day Tuesday in Asia, falling near $38 a barrel, as a loss of investor confidence that the global economy will recover soon swept across stock and crude markets.

Benchmark crude for April delivery dropped 32 cents to $38.12 a barrel by afternoon in Singapore on the New York Mercantile Exchange . The contract overnight fell $1.59 to $38.44.

U.S. stock indexes fell to the lowest since 1997 on Monday on investor fear that a government stimulus package and plan to rescue ailing banks won’t keep the worst recession in decades from deepening.

Months of dismal economic news, highlighted by massive job cuts, have weighed on the psyche of investors and undermined faith that the economy will recover in the second half.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 3.4 percent Monday and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index dropped 3.5 percent.

All major Asian stock markets also fell on Tuesday.

“The stock and crude markets are reflecting the same negative sentiment about the broader economy,” said Gerard Burg, minerals and energy economist with National Australia Bank in Melbourne.

Even large output reductions by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have failed to boost prices. OPEC has announced 4.2 million barrels a day of production cuts since September, and the group’s leaders have said it’s likely the 13-member cartel will cut more supply at a meeting on March 15.

“There’s relatively little that further production cuts can do,” Burg said. “They’ve already cut a sizable amount of their production.”

The fall in oil prices — crude has plummeted 74 percent since July — may itself eventually trigger a rally, as producers of high-cost fields shut down operations to avoid losses.

“Some producers are probably struggling to be profitable, and that puts a constraint on the downside,” Burg said. “It puts a very real floor in place.”

Burg said he expects oil to trade between $35 and $45 a barrel for the next few months.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures rose 0.36 cent to $1.05 a gallon. Heating oil dropped 1.14 cents to $1.16 a gallon, while natural gas for March delivery slid 5.6 cents to $4.04 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Brent prices fell 10 cents to $40.89 on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

NEW YORK – Wall Street has turned the clock back to 1997. Investors unable to extinguish their worries about a recession that has no end in sight dumped stocks again Monday.

The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 251 points to its lowest close since May 7, 1997, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index logged its lowest finish since April 11, 1997. It’s as if the decade’s dot-com surge, collapse and subsequent recovery never occurred.

The Dow is just over 100 points from 7,000. Both indexes have lost about half their value since hitting record highs in October 2007.

“People left and right are throwing in the towel,” said Keith Springer, president of Capital Financial Advisory Services .

Investors pounded most financial stocks even as government agencies led by the Treasury Department said they would launch a revamped bank rescue program this week. The plan includes the option of increasing government ownership in financial institutions without having to pour more taxpayer money into them.

Although the government has said it doesn’t want to nationalize banks, many investors are clearly still concerned that this could be a possibility as banks continue to suffer severe losses because of the recession. They’re also worried that banks’ losses will keep escalating as the recession sends more borrowers into default.

“The biggest thing I see here is the incredible pessimism,” Springer said. “The government is doing a lousy job of alleviating fears.”

The Treasury and other agencies issued a statement after The Wall Street Journal reported Citigroup is in talks for the government to boost its stake in the bank to as much as 40 percent. Analysts said the market, which initially rose on the statement, wanted more details of the government’s plans.

“It’s only a very partial picture of what we may get,” said Quincy Krosby, chief investment strategist at The Hartford . “This proverbial lack of clarity is damaging market psychology.”

Meanwhile, technology stocks fell after The Journal reported that Yahoo Inc. ’s new chief executive plans to reorganize the company. But the selling came across the market as pessimism about the recession and its toll on companies deepened.

“There’s no where to hide anymore,” said Jim Herrick , director of equity trading at Baird & Co.

The market’s decline extends massive losses from last week when the major stock indexes tumbled more than 6 percent. While falling to their 1997 levels, the major indexes plunged through the lows they reached in late November, at the height of the credit crisis.

“There’s no main driver of the down day,” said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer’s Investment Research. “There’s just so much skepticism in the overall market and (the question is) is the government doing proper things to get us out of this problem. Obviously the stock market is voting no.”

The Dow dropped 250.89, or 3.41 percent, to 7,114.78. It last closed this low on May 7, 1997 when it finished at 7,085.65. The Dow hasn’t traded below the 7,000 mark since October 1997. The index is down 14 percent over the past 10 sessions.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 26.72, or 3.47 percent, to 743.33. It was the lowest close since April 11, 1997, when it ended at 737.65.

When the indexes were last at these levels, they were in their ascendancy, climbing amid the dot-com boom. But 1997 was also the year that saw stock prices later plunge amid a growing financial crisis in Asia . Far away from Wall Street , it was the year that the U.S. first heard the name Monica Lewinsky , whose relationship with President Bill Clinton led to his impeachment and trial. And it was the year that the world was stunned by the death of Britain’s Princess Diana, on Aug. 31.

On Monday, the S&P 500 did close above its Nov. 21 trading low of 741.02. But the 14-month recession has decimated the major indexes: The Dow is down 49.8 percent from its record highs of October 2007, while the S&P 500 index is down 52.5 percent.

Detrick warned that a move below the S&P’s Nov. 21 low could set off “violent selling” as even more confidence drains from the market.

The technology-laden Nasdaq composite index dropped 53.51, or 3.71 percent, to 1,387.72.

Investors looking for a bottom also dumped smaller stocks. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 16.38 or 3.99 percent, to 394.58.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by more than 6 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange , where consolidated volume came to 6.35 billion shares compared with heavy volume of 8.12 billion shares on Friday.

Morgan Smith, investment counselor for Burns Advisory Group, said investors are now pushing out their expectations for a recovery in the industry until after this year.

“Everyone is trying to grasp at some type of bottom,” Smith said. “The market is just trying to figure out if it has priced in a worst-case scenario.”

Among tech stocks, Hewlett-Packard Co . fell $1.96, or 6.3 percent, to $29.28, and Intel Corp . dove 70 cents, or 5.5 percent, to $12.08.

Other big losers included General Electric Co., which dropped to a 14-year low of $8.80, but ended down 53 cents, or 5.7 percent, at $8.85. Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc . tumbled 48 cents, or 7.6 percent, to $5.81.

Some financial stocks managed to gain, including Citigroup , which rose 19 cents, or 9.7 percent, to $2.14, and Bank of America Corp ., which gained 12 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $3.91.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 2.77 percent from 2.79 percent late Friday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose to 0.28 percent from 0.26 percent Friday.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

Light, sweet crude fell $1.59 to settle at $38.44 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange .

Overseas, Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.99 percent, Germany’s DAX index fell 1.95 percent, and France ’s CAC-40 slipped 0.82 percent. Earlier, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 0.54 percent.

World stocks, measured by the MSCI index, hit their lowest level since April 2003 on Tuesday as Europe joined a global equity sell-off triggered by renewed concerns about the financial system.

The MSCI world equity index fell as low as 187.60, bringing its losses this year to more than 17 percent.