By IANS
New Delhi : Indian shares fell sharply Wednesday amid steep falls in other Asian markets, as uncertainties in global financial markets, especially in the US, continued to play havoc with sentiments.
The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened weak at 18,247.03 points, against Tuesday’s close at 18,663.16 points, and registered a drop of as much as 727.15 points within minutes over the previous close.
Some 30 minutes into trading, the 30-share index was ruling at 18,149.58 points, with a loss of 513.58 points, or 2.75 percent, over the previous day’s close, data with the exchange showed.
The mid-cap and small cap indices were also down 1.76 percent and 1.21 percent, respectively, and so were the 13 sector-specific indices. In fact, all the 30 shares that go into the Sensex basket were also trading in the red.
Prominent among losers were Bharti Airtel, Infosys Technologies, Wipro, Satyam, Housing Development Finance Corp, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services, Hindustan Aluminium and Oil and Natural Gas Corp.
The Sensex had ended Tuesday with a small gain of 2.84 points or 0.02 percent.
Asian markets were trading weak. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng tumbled 5.35 percent or 1,327.49 points at 23,481.21. Japan’s Nikkei slipped 4.13 percent or 567.34 points at 13,178.16. Singapore’s Straits Times plunged 3.53 percent or 107.21 points at 2,931.21. However, South Korea’s Seoul Composite was up 0.38 percent or 6.44 points at 1,696.57.
In the US markets, Dow plunged 370.03 points, or 2.93 percent to 12,265.13. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 44.18 points, or 3.20 percent closing at 1,336.64, while the Nasdaq composite index slipped 73.28 points, or 3.08 percent to 2,309.57.