2008-03-07 17:50:44 -

MUMBAI, India (AP) - Indian shares slid in volatile trade Friday, tracking global markets, with the benchmark index dropping more than 3 percent and slipping below 16,000 points.
The 30-company benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Sensex, fell 629 points, or 3.8 percent to 15,913.5 points at provisional close. The Sensex fell as

much as 5.2 percent to 15,689.92 in afternoon trade before recovering slightly.
On the rival National Stock Exchange, the 50-share S&P; Nifty index fell 163 points or 3.2 percent to 4,758 points at provisional close.
Funds were selling across banking and power sectors with power utility Reliance Energy Ltd. and leading banks ICICI Bank Ltd. and HDFC Bank Ltd. among the big losers.
Faltering global markets and negative sentiment following the presentation of the federal budget to India's Parliament last week pushed the Indian stocks lower this week.

The Sensex slid more than 5 percent at the start of the week on worries that banks would be hit by the federal government's proposal to write-off loans _ an estimated 600 billion rupees ($15 billion; ¤9.92 billion) _ to small farmers.