The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange plummeted 444 points, or 1.5 percent, to 28,354, on across-the-board selling by investors. The Nifty at the National Stock Exchange plunged 151 points, to 8,716. Key stock markets in Japan, China, Hong Kong, and South Korea were battered down by between 1.7 percent and 3.4 percent. Major European bourses in the UK, Germany and France posted big losses of between 1.2 percent and 1.5 percent. Stocks sold-off on investor jitters that the U.S. central bank may hike interest rates as early as next week.