The Sensex plunged below the 10,000 levels in late trade as trading in US index futures suggested the Dow would fall 219 points at the opening bell. The European indices pared some of the gains after opening sharply in the green.

This is the lowest level of the Sensex since July 2006. The benchmark index was trading at 10,017, after hitting the day’s low of 9,975. The Nifty was trading at 3085, down over 183 points.

The realty and metal indices were the biggest losers in today’s carnage. The realty index on the BSE is down nearly 9 per cent while the metal index lost over 5 per cent.

All the Sensex stocks were trading in the red, with Rel Infra down over 11 per cent. The other major losers include JP Associates, down over 9 per cent; NTPC, down 9 per cent; and RCom, down 9 per cent.