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 in a global que, a short while ago. Key stock indices in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan were down by 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.And at the inter-bank foreign exchange, the rupee weakened 22 paise, to 49.16 against the dollar in early trade, today, wiping out the gains of the previous two sessions. The rupee fell on fresh dollar demand from banks and importers, amid dollar firmness at the overseas markets.