After opening negatively on Friday (Jan 23), Indian equities managed to return into the positive terrain but fell into the red once again as investors turned watchful on account of weak global reaction.

In lacklustre trading, the 30-share index BSE Sensex lost nearly 140 points amid investors awaiting fresh signals from RBI’s quarterly credit policy review scheduled for Tuesday.

The 30 share index, Sensex lost 649.24 points to 8,674.35 during the week ended Jan 23, 2009. In contrast, the broad based NSE Nifty tumbled 149.9 points to 2,678.55 in the same period.

Sensex remained choppy throughout the week chasing weak global cues. Meager corporate earnings of top companies dragged the index in the negative zone.

On Monday (Jan 19), Sensex belled the week at 9,381.78 after making a gain of 58.19 points in line with global peers.

New Delhi, Jan 24 : China's semiconductor market is expected to shrink 5.8 percent in 2009, the first significant setback for the industry, a market report has said.

Total sales of chips is forecast to drop to 72 billion dollars in 2009 from 76.5 dollars billion a year before, US-based market research firm iSuppli said in its latest report.

The project sales fall would add to the woes of the global semiconductor market, which is expected to drop 9.4 percent this year, the China Daily quoted the report, as saying.

The Sensex, which showed some signs of a recovery around noon, has slipped further into the negative zone on the back of continued selling action witnessed in several large, medium and small cap stocks.

Realty, metal, capital goods and power stocks plunged the most.

Mirroring the sell-off, several stocks from banking, IT and auto segments also fell sharply.

Select pharma, oil and consumer durables stocks hold on in the positive territory remained quite subdued.

Tokyo  - Japan's key Nikkei 225 Stock Average extended its losses Friday to a two-month low after Sony Corp announced a projected record operating loss for fiscal 2008.

The Nikkei index tumbled 306.49 points, or 3.81 per cent, to close at 7,745.25, and the broader Topix index of all first section issues was also down 22.36 points, or 2.81 per cent, at 773.55.