The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange fell 221 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 16,804 in opening trade, this morning, dragged down by plunging IT stocks, and weakness on the other Asian bourses. Later, the Sensex lost further ground, and stood 311 points, or 1.8 percent in negative territory, at 16,714 in afternoon trade, a short while ago. Key stock indices in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan were down between 1.3 percent and 3.3 percent today, after Germany's Finance Minister reportedly cautioned against hopes for a quick fix to Europe's debt problem. Across in the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had plunged 2.1 per cent, overnight.