Indian shares index plunges 310 points

Indian shares tumbled as trading opened today with the benchmark index plunging 310 points, or 3.2%, in the first 20 minutes.

All of the 30 shares tracked by the benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange were down in early trading. The Sensex was down to 9,446 points, dropping below the 9,500 mark for the first time since Jan. 23.

The fall was sharper on the National Stock Exchange, where the 50-company S&P Nifty index fell 3.4% to 2,765 points.