New Delhi - India's benchmark Sensex Friday plunged to two-year lows under 10,000 points, registering a fall of 5.73 per cent on heavy selling by funds and investors.

After opening on a strong note, the 30-share sensitive index closed the day's trade down 606.14 points to 9,975.35, a level last seen in June 2006.

The index had touched the day's low of 9,911.32 during the day and a high of 10,786.93.

All blue-chip stocks including Reliance Industries, DLF Limited, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India fell between 6 to 10 per cent. Realty and power stocks were the major contributors to the fall.

Similarly, the broader 50-share Nifty index fell by 194.95 points, or 5.96 per cent, to 3,074.35.

Paris - French shares shrugged off Wall Street's weak opening and were holding on to modest gains in mid-afternoon trading on Tuesday.

Washington - US stocks fell on opening Friday after new housing numbers reinforced fears of a pending recession in the United States.

Amman - Arab stock markets fluctuated violently this week, reflecting turmoil on the world markets and lack of confidence that measures taken by the world's largest economies could succeed in handling the global financial crisis, financial analysts said Friday.

"We believe that the psychological impact of developments on world markets will continue to be felt in the Middle East bourses for some time to come," Wajdi Makhamreh, Chief Operating Officer at the Amman- based Sanabel International Holding told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Singapore: Singapore shares ended the week on a lower note Friday, with the Straits Times Index (STI) dropping by 72.69 points, or 3.72 per cent, to close at 1878.51.

At mid-day, the STI was up 9.71 points to 1960.91, however, the afternoon saw selling pressure due to gloomy economic outlook despite government support for the banking sector and Singapore dollar deposits.

"We had seen first two days of gains but the index fell for the rest of the three days on continuing concern about world economic outlook," a Singapore trader said.

New Delhi - Indian markets extended their losses Friday as the benchmark Sensex stock index fell by nearly 4 per cent by midafternoon after opening on a strong note.

The 30-share sensitive index was quoted at 10,175.1, down 406.39 points, or 3.84 per cent.

Besides information technology firms Satyam Computer Services Ltd and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, all the other of its 28 stocks were in the red.

Similarly, the broader 50-share Nifty index fell by 128.2 points, or 3.92 per cent, to 3141.1.

Foreign funds, which have been the main drivers of India's stock market upswing in recent years, have been net sellers this week, pulling out more than a billion dollars.