Seoul  - Shares ended sharply down Monday on

New Delhi  - Indian stock markets slipped into the red in morning trade on Monday with the benchmark Sensex index trading about 3.5 per cent lower than its previous close.

The 30-share sensitive Sensex index of the Bombay Stock Exchange was trading at 9,698 points at 12:20 pm (0650 GMT) 350.49 points lower than its 10,048.49 point close on Friday.

The Sensex had gained 1,081.81 points or 12.06 per cent during a five-day long bull run last week.

New Delhi, Mar. 30 : The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex has plunged below 10,000 points by losing 250.43 points in opening trade due to profit-selling by funds amid weak trends on the global markets.

The 30-share Sensex, which had gained nearly 1,070 points, or 12.06 per cent in last week, slipped by 251.43 points, or 2.45 per cent in opening trade as funds and retail investors preferred to book profits at prevailing attractive levels.

All the sectoral indices were trading in negative zone with losses up to 3.48 percent.

Tokyo  - The Japanese market started the week lower Monday as investors sold shares to lock in profits from the previous week's gains.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 151.91 points, or 1.76 per cent, to 8,475.06.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also down 15.91 points, or 1.93 per cent, to 808.62.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar traded at 98.05-10 yen, up from Friday's 5 pm quote of 97.88-91 yen.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex closed the week with a marginal gain of 45.39 points at 10,048.

Friday (March 27) turned the second successive day that the 30-share benchmark marked its closure above 10,000-mark.

In actual fact, this was a week of heady gains, which spurts Sensex around 12% (1,081 points) in the last five sessions.

The 30-share-index Sensex is now 25% (2,001 points) up from its recent low of 8,047, which it hit on March 6.

New York  - US stocks fell on Friday after two leading banks said they made less money in March, but the major indices were still up at least 6 per cent for the week.

JPMorgan Chase & Co and Bank of America Corp said that earnings had fallen this month after they made money in the first two months of the year, pushing their shares down more than 3 per cent, Bloomberg financial news reported.