After opening on a weak note, the 30-share index Sensex continued its losing streak on the back of sustained selling action witnessed in realty, metal, banking and power stocks.

However, FMCG segment went up. 

Midcap and Smallcap index dropped 1.43% and 1.10% respectively.

Realty, banks and metals were hammered after the US Congress failed to come out with a decision on the USD 700 billion plan to bail-out its financial sector.

Sydney - The argy-bargy over the US government's planned rescue package for financial institutions erased recent gains by Australian stocks Friday.

The ASX 200 had fallen 87 points, or 1.7 per cent, to 4,839 by mid-afternoon.

Prices were dragged down in thin trading as investors waited for US politicians to thrash out the terms of the bailout package worth up to 700 billion US dollars.

Indian stock markets opened on a dull note today (Sep 26), and continued to slip further because of massive selling by funds, sparked by failing trends in other Asian markets.

For the week ended September 13, the wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation remained unchanged at 12.14%. However, inflationary figures during the same period of the last year were significantly lower at 3.51%.

Tokyo - Tokyo stocks see-sawed between positive and negative territory in morning trading Friday as investors were concerned about congressional passage of the US government's bailout plan for the financial industry.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 23.19 points, or 0.19 per cent, to trade at 11,983.34.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was almost unchanged at 1,154.81, up 0.86 points, or 0.07 per cent.

New York - Federal regulators late Thursday shut down Washington Mutual Inc (WaMu), the largest US saving and loan, in what is is the largest-ever US bank failure.

WaMu's deposit accounts were immediately purchased by banking giant JP Morgan Chase & Co for 1.9 billion dollars, guaranteeing that no depositors would lose money.

Washington  - US stocks rose on Thursday as Congress neared completion of a 700-billion-dollar administration bailout aimed at reviving the ailing economy.

Christopher Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut and chair of the Senate banking committee, said Thursday afternoon an agreement on a deal had been reached in principle, but must still be ironed out with congressional leaders and the administration.

"We've reached a fundamental agreement on a set of principles," Dodd said.