US markets have a free fall

US stocks fell sharply on Friday - the third weekly decline- on warning by American Express of mounting credit-card defaults and a slowdown in consumer spending.

While the Dow declined 247 points (1.92%) to 12,606, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 48 points (1.95%) to 2,440.

Indian ADRs, too, fell sharply on Friday. Infosys plunged 6% to $40.14. Satyam and Wipro were down more than 5% each at $23.50 and $13.31, respectively. Tata Motors, HDFC Bank and ICICI also declined.