Mumbai, October 25, 208 -  Stocks: The stock markets almost hit their bottom, falling to nearly three-year low at the weekend as the recession worries continued to haunt investors across the world even as the salvage operation undertaken by various governments fell short of expectations.

In the week to October 25, the Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share bellwether Sensex plunged by 1,274.28 points or 12.77 per cent to settle the week at 8,701.07, the level not seen since November 23, 2005, when it had closed at 8,638.34.

The broader 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also tumbled by 490.35 points or 15.95 per cent to end the week at 2,584.00 from its last close.

The market saw a free fall as its global counterparts slipped on daily basis even as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said the present global financial markets crisis seems to be spreading across markets, institutions and countries, a day before announcing its mid-term review of monetary policy.

Contrary to expectations of further monetary measures, the apex bank kept all the key rates unchanged while lowering its growth projections to 7.5-8.0 per cent for this fiscal.

After infusing Rs one lakh crore in the banking system through a sharp 2.5 per cent CRR cut on October 11, the RBI slashed the short-term repo rate at which banks borrow from it to eight per cent on October 20.

The market regulator Sebi too took steps in the interest of capital market during the week. Sebi warned foreign funds against overseas lending and borrowing of Indian securities after the data showed that FIIs had lent equities worth Rs 348 crore to overseas entities for the purpose of short selling.

The central bank also eased norms on overseas borrowing for Indian companies to boost inflows and help corporates raise funds for projects.