Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia empathised with investors on Wednesday in equities and hoped that stocks would rise once normalcy returns to the global financial markets.

"What is happening in stock market is a matter of concern to investors, I have no doubt about it. Many people who entered stock market last year would obviously be concerned over fall in stock values... I am assuming that when normalcy is restored (in global financial markets), normalcy would also be restored to stock markets," he told reporters in New Delhi.

He, however, said that fall in stock markets in India is not an exception as stock markets across the world have dropped 30-40 per cent and that stock values are not a measure of the country's economy.

Ahluwalia, who met Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday, said stock markets are always more volatile.

India's stock market barometer Sensex on Wednesday plunged below the psychological 11,000-point level in early trade amid the worsening financial condition in the global markets.

Besides, other global indices, including Japan's Nikkei and London Stock Exchange's FTSE 100, are trading in the red down 9 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively on Wednesday.

The US  benchmark index Dow Jones Industrial Average had closed down over 5 per cent on Tuesday.

• Sensex sinks; Japanese markets at 20-year low
• US sub prime crisis spooks global economy