Falling for the fifth day in a row, the benchmark Sensex today closed below 9,000 level after more than 20 days with funds intensifying selling after Citigroup announced plans to lay off over 50,000 people, indicating the deep impact of the global financial upheaval.

The BSE bellwether index closed the day at 8,937.20, down by 353.81 points from its last close. Sensex had lost more than 1,500 points in these five days of losing-spree.

The barometer last closed below 9,000 level on October 27.

National Stock Exchange index Nifty also lost 116.40 points at 2,683.15.

Brokers said the world's largest lender Citigroup's plans of massive job cuts mainly dampened trading sentiment. Besides, Japan sliding into recession also weighed against buying support.

Vikram Pandit-led financial services giant yesterday said it would cut more than 52,000 jobs in the coming months.

Marketmen said the investors drew little comfort from the finance minister's saying the government will take steps to stimulate the economy to offset the impact of the global slowdown.

Sluggish global economic conditions, particularly in the US, from where software companies earn a good chunk of their revenues, continued to cast a shadow on IT stocks whose index ended lower by 4.70 per cent

Power and banking indices also bore the brunt of selling, and their respective indices closed down by over 4 per cent. Among IT stocks, Infosys, Satyam, TCS and Wipro were the major losers, while Tata Power, Reliance Infra, Reliance Power, Siemens, NTPC, BHEL and ABB were the power sector shares which closed down sharply.

However, teck sector index suffered the most at 4.96 per cent.

Banking index was another casualty at 4.51 per cent. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Bank of India, Axis Bank and Kotak Bank suffered significant losses.

PSU index fell by 4.42 per cent at 4,532.08, metal index by 4.38 per cent at 4,516.28, realty index by 3.60 per cent at 1,838,87, capital goods index by 3.52 per cent at 6,626.50, auto index by 2.88 per cent at 2,336.50, FMCG index by 1.73 per cent at 1,838.08, consumer durable index by 1.56 per cent at 1,847.79.

Besides, healthcare index moved down by 1.55 per cent at 2,831.60 and oil and gas index by 1.53 per cent at 5,572.02.

As the selling pressure spilled over a wide front, small-cap index fell by 2.81 per cent at 3,558.66 and mid-cap index by 2.33 per cent at 3,060.32 points

Markets @ 9.56 AM Rueters

The BSE Sensex extended losses to 4 percent on Tuesday afternoon, on worries about the weakening global economy, with financials falling heavily after Citigroup announced massive job cuts.

By 12:01 p.m., the 30-share BSE index was down 4.08 percent at 8,912.22, with all components falling.

The 50-share NSE index was down 3.95 percent at 2,689.05.

Markets @ 9.56 AM Team FC

Following the weak global cues, stocks opened sharply lower on Tuesday with sharp cuts across all sectors. Metals, banks and infrastructure counters were the worst hit. It is the fifth session that the markets are falling.

At 9:56 am, the Sensex lost 321 points to 8,969 and the Nifty fell 84 points to 2,714. CNX Midcap 100 tumbled 72 points to 3,421.

Suzlon Energy, Jaiprakash Associates, Siemens, ICICI Bank, Zee Entertainment, DLF, Grasim, Cairn, HDFC, Hindalco, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, L&T, Unitech, Sterlite Industries, HDFC Bank, Reliance Infrastructure and SAIL are the major losers.

US stocks fell on Monday on concerns of an accelerating global slowdown. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 223.73 points, or 2.63 per cent, at 8,273.58, Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 22.55 points, or 2.58 per cent, at 850.74 and the Nasdaq Composite Index edged down 34.80 points, or 2.29 per cent, at 1,482.05.