New Delhi, 04 March (H.S.): Fear grips international bourses as intensified US-Israel strikes on Iran and Tehran's retaliatory attacks fuel worries of prolonged regional instability, sending weak signals to Asian markets amid widespread sell-offs.US markets closed lower last session: Dow Jones shed 1.80% while S&P 500 fell 0.96% to 6,815.63; Nasdaq dropped 1.01% or 229.77 points to 22,519.09. Dow futures trade 0.35% weaker at 48,333.52.

European indices tumbled: FTSE plunged 2.82% or 295.98 points to 10,484.13; CAC dove 3.58% or 290.48 points to 8,103.84; DAX slid 3.56% or 847.35 points to 23,790.65.Asia mirrors the rout across all nine major markets: Gift Nifty down 2.14% or 533.50 points at 24,457; Hang Seng off 2.81% or 723.08 points at 25,045; Kospi crashes 8.09% or 468.45 points to 5,323.46; SET Composite falls 5.87% to 1,380.36; Taiwan Weighted drops 3.81% to 33,016.45; Nikkei slumps 3.63% to 54,235; Jakarta Composite eases 2.82% to 7,716.09; Straits Times down 2.24% to 4,806.70; Shanghai Composite off 1.43% at 4,063.5.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar