Mumbai, Jun 22 (IBNS): Indian markets and the rupee tumbled on Friday, tracking Asian peers after ratings agency Moody's downgraded 15 of the world's biggest banks, lowering credit ratings over risks stemming from volatile capital markets activities

At 12 noon, the 30-share benchmark index was down 119.31 points at 16,913.25, recovering slightly from the day’s low of 16,855.85, while the rupee breached the 57 mark against the dollar, setting a new record low.

Global markets fell sharply on the back of gloomy economic reports from the U.S. and China compounded by Moody’s lowering of credit ratings of the banks, including Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and Citi, by one to three notches.

In its announcement on Thursday, Moody's acknowledged the lowest-ranked banks have been making changes to improve their profits, but said it was taking a wait-and-see attitude.

The onslaught of gloomy reports about the health of the world economy also rocked Wall Street, as the Dow index lost 250.82 points to close at 12,573.57 on Thursday, a drop of 2 percent, in the second-worst day of year.