New Delhi - Indian share prices dipped by more than 3 per cent Thursday on heavy selling by foreign funds and retail investors tracking an overnight slide in United States markets.

An unexpected rise in inflation figures also pushed down shares. Metal and blue-chip stocks were among the big losers.

The benchmark 30-share Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange ended with a loss of 385.79 points, or 3.81 per cent, closing at 9,734.22. The Sensex opened weak at
9,755.03 and hit an intra-day low of 9,635.22.

Beijing - Shares on China's main stock market fell by 2.44 per cent Thursday after an overnight plunge on Wall Street.

The key Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks shares traded in foreign and local currencies, closed at 1,717.72, down 42.89 points, or 2.44 per cent.

The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index lost 1.67 per cent, or 7.85 points, to end the day on 463.01.

Both markets had risen by just more than 3 per cent Wednesday.

Singapore - Singapore shares dropped sharply Thursday, cooling off from the euphoria over Barack Obama's election as US president the day before as investors expected a recession to hit.

The 30-share index BSE Sensex fell into the negative terrain on account of heavy selling activity in metal and blue-chip stocks.

Oil & gas, auto and IT stocks have edged up a bit from their earlier lows. Metal stocks continue to trade weak, while realty and FMCG sectors too have bounced back from their lower levels.

BSE Midcap and Smallcap index lost 1.42% and 1.96% respectively.

Today, the Indian stock market belled the day after losing 364.98 points at 9,755.03.

Tokyo - Asian stocks took a big dive Thursday, reacting to a sharp fall overnight on Wall Street and wiping away gains from earlier in the week.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average plunged 6.53 per cent to 8,899.14 while the broader Topix index of all first-section issues also lost 5.96 per cent to close at 909.3.

The plunge came on the heels of a Wall Street decline brought on by a report showing rapidly rising job losses.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 5.05 per cent to 9,139.27. The broader Standard and Poor's 500 Index was down 5.27 per cent to 952.77, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 5.53 per cent to 1,681.64.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong shares plunged more than 7 per cent Thursday as delight over the US presidential election result turned to gloom over signs of a deepening global recession.

The blue-chip Hang Seng Index lost 1,050.12 points, or 7.08 per cent, to close at 13,790.04. Turnover was 48.25 billion Hong Kong dollars (6.22 billion US dollars).

The losses came 24 hours after the index surged by more than 3 per cent Wednesday afternoon on news of Barack Obama's win.