Mumbai, Friday, February 05, 2010: The BSE Sensex fell more than 2 percent on Friday afternoon, as Europe’s sovereign debt, indications of weak US jobs data and a crash in commodity and energy prices raised fresh concerns over global economic recovery.

The domestic markets have also taken the brunt of selling by foreign funds, which had earlier invested in emerging markets after borrowing in cheaper dollars.

By 13.51 pm, the 50-share BSE Index was down by 461.79 points, to 15,763.16 points - its lowest in three months, with only one component gaining.

Across-the-board selling was witnessed. Among the index stocks, heavyweight Reliance Industries led the losers and was down 2.4 percent at 994.60 rupees.

Bank stocks such as private lender ICICI Bank and State Bank of India (SBI) were also among the top losers. ICICI Bank was down 3.8 percent at 797.75 rupees, while larger rival SBI was down 3.1 percent at 1,888 rupees.

Among tech stocks, software bellwether Infosys Technologies was down 2.76 percent at 2,356.40 rupees, while larger rival Tata Consultancy fell 2.9 percent to 720.60 rupees.

Drug maker Ranbaxy Laboratories was down 5.23 percent at 404 rupees after a newspaper reported that the US drug regulator asked it to immediately assess whether its plants making drugs for the US market met standards.