Stocks plunged to their lowest levels as investor confidence across the globe was shattered as the loss-making US investment bank Lehman Brothers stared at a potential collapse after Bank of America and Barclays abandoned talks of a buyout.
Meanwhile, insurer American International Group, working to stave off rating downgrades and shore up the capital of its holding company, has made an unprecedented approach to the Federal Reserve seeking $40 billion in short-term financing.
Back home, all sectoral indices were trading sharply lower. Realty stocks were a battered lot, followed by power and technology counters.
At 10:17 am, Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex plummeted 649.28 points or 4.64 per cent to 13,351.53 after the index fell to a low of 13,272.86 in the first few minutes of trade.
National Stock Exchange's Nifty shed 4.78 per cent or 202.15 points to 4026.30. The index fell to a low of 4005.70 so far.
Reliance Infrastructure (-9.08%), Jaiprakash Associates (-8.41%), Satyam Computers (-7.79%), BHEL (-7.71%), ICICI Bank (-6.87%) and Tata Consulting Services (-6.59%) were the worst hit in the Sensex pack.
None of the stocks in the 30-share index could weather the tide.
The rupee fell to 46 per dollar early on Monday, its lowest in nearly two years, as a slide in Asian stocks raised concerns about further fund outflows.
Market breadth worsened; on BSE, there were 1338 declines against 193 advances
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