The world stock markets ended the week on a sour note

 The US stock markets were down 1.1% during the week due to disappointing housing data. New home sales fell for the second straight month in February by 1.6% to 313,000. Fall in volumes suggested that the recovery in the US housing market may take longer than expected. Further, the factory data from Europe and China was also disappointing leading to a broader fall in global markets.The Indian stock markets were down 0.6% during the week. The post-budget trading session was filled with high volatility as markets see-sawed during the week. This was the fifth consecutive weekly loss for the markets as uncertainties still linger as to when the central bank would cut interest rates. Higher borrowing plans for the next fiscal have also worried markets.
Amongst the other world markets, Singapore was down by 0.7% while Japan was down 1.2% during the week. France was the biggest loser registering losses of 3.3% during the week.