The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex tumbled on Tuesday to close at over a three-year low, losing nearly 180 points, on heavy selling by foreign funds, sparked by weakening trends in overseas markets.
The Sensex, which fell for the third straight day, dropped by 179.79 points to 8,427.29, after dipping to the day's low of 8,390.21 as the funds remained net sellers in heavyweights led by consumer durables and banking.
The key index had closed around these levels of 8,308.93 on November 10, 2005.
Similarly, the 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty dropped by 52.20 points to 2,622.40, after dipping to a lowest level of the day at 2,611.55 points.
Brokers said the fresh meltdown was solely on deepening concerns about the global economic outlook and wobbly world stock markets dented investor appetite.
They said the US market falling below 12-year-low levels and cracking the psychological 7,000 points level mainly shattered investors' hopes for any immediate recovery.
The US Standard & Poor's 500 Index tumbled 4.7 per cent to its lowest close since October 1996. The US government announced last Friday that gross domestic product (GDP) shrank at a worse-than-expected 6.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008, raising renewed fears about energy demand in the world's biggest economy.
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