New Delhi, Jan 22: Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said the current slump in the Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange
(BSE) would "not effect" the market in the long run.

Trading was suspended for one hour at the BSE after the benchmark Sensex fell to the low of 15,576.30 within minutes of opening, crossing the circuit limit of 10 per cent.

Appealing to investors to stay calm, Chidambaram said: "The economy will grow close to nine per cent. The current trend will not effect market in the long run."

The market has since resumed trading.

The Sensex opened with a negative gap of 721 points at 16,884. The index was 9.8 percent (1,716 points) down at 15,889, at the time of closing for an hour today.

The NSE Nifty has crashed over 12 percent (630 points) to 4,578. (ANI)