Indian equities marked their closure on a lower note on Thursday (Sep o4) ahead of inflation figures and the result of the crucial Nuclear Suppliers Group meeting.

Heavy selling activity was seen across realty, oil & gas, metal and FMCG stocks, whilst IT and auto stocks went up.

The Sensex closed the day after losing 150.76 points at 14,899.10. It also touched an intra-day high of 14,994.15 and an intra-day low of 14,766.01.

Tokyo - Tokyo stocks plunged Friday, dragged down by Wall Street and a strengthened yen.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 319.05 points, or 2.54 per cent, to 12,238,91.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also down 30.54 points, or 2.54 per cent, to 1,271.11.

Japan's government announced earlier on friday that the country's businesses had cut investment in the second quarter by 6.5 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Washington - US stocks posted sharp losses on Thursday as oil prices continued to fall and weekly jobless numbers sparked wider concerns about the state of employment in a sluggish US economy.

The job fears came ahead of monthly unemployment figures due out on Friday, and dragged down shares in Caterpillar Inc and United Technologies Corp among others. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News predicted a further 75,000 jobs were lost in August.

Sydney - Australian shares tumbled Friday following steep losses on Wall Street and in Europe.

Taipei - Taiwan stocks fell nearly 3 per cent Thursday over underlying economic worries as President Ma Ying-jeou said he would not be able realize his pledge to boost Taiwan's economy within his term.

The TAIEX index dipped 172.30 points, or 2.62 per cent, to close at 6,412.63.

Leading the fall are China-related shares - electronics, tourism, shipping, aviation and construction shares. Tourism companies lost ground as arrivals from mainland China remained below expectations.

After opening with a loss of 154.01 points at 14,895.85, the benchmark index Sensex continued to trade in the pessimistic zone because of heavy profit booking witnessed in realty, power and metal stocks, while healthcare and IT stocks went up.

At 10.59 am, the 30-share index Sensex stood at 14.903.13, down 146.73 points. It also hit a high of 14,923.33 and a low of 14,766.01.

On the other hand, the broad based Nifty lost 57.50 points at 4,446.50, after touching a high of 4,514.60 and a low of 4,419.45.