The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex, which recovered by 60 points in opening trade later plunged 163 points down in late afternoon deals to 18972. The Sensex had lost 466 points in the previous five sessions. Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index was trading 55 points down at 5694. In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei index rose by 1.16 per cent in morning trade today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.37 per cent higher in the previous session.