Mumbai:Indian equities markets finished deep in the red Friday with key equity indices suffering arguably their steepest falls in recent times in percentage terms, analysts said.

The benchmark 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange closed at 8,701.07,down 1,070.63 percent or 10.96 percent from its previous close Thursday at 9,771.70 points. In the past, on Jan 21,2008 and in May 2004 after the United Progressive Alliance coalition government came to power, the Sensex had crashed by 10 percent much before noon and, therefore, brought trading to a halt by hitting the lower circuit filter.

This time, however, the more than 10 percent fall Friday happened after noon so the lower circuit filter did not come into play only when the fall is 15 percent or more. �As far as I can remember this is the largest fall in percentage terms in recent history,� said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, head of the capital markets arm of India s fourth largest share brokerage firm, the Delhi-based SMC Group. In percentage terms, the fall of the broader 50-share SP CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was even higher.

The Nifty closed at 2584.00,down 359.15 points or 12.20 percent from its previous close Thursday at 2943.15 points. The BSE midcap index finished at 3,095.68 points, down 283.04 points or 8.38 percent from its previous close Thursday at 3,378.72 points. The BSE smallcap index closed at 3,661.83,down 303.87 points or 7.66 percent from its previous close Thursday at 3,965.70 points.

Source : IANS