The government does not expect the stock markets to fall below the levels witnessed on Monday, which saw benchmark Sensex plunging by nearly 700 points during the intra-day trade.

"We do not expect any dip beyond this level," Secretary,

Department of Economic Affairs, Ashok Chawla told reporters in New Delhi.

Both the benchmark indices witnessed massive erosion in the wake of the US financial sector meltdown and the beating witnessed in the bourses worldwide.

Replying to questions on the market movement, Chawla said similar things are happening in other parts of the world.

Taking cues from the global bourses and meltdown of certain European banks, the BSE bellwether index plunged over 699 points to its lowest level this year at 12,402.84 points.

Similarly, the wide-based Nifty went down by 207.95 points to touch an intra-day low of 3,777.30.

Other Asian markets, including Japan's Nikkei, Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's Kospi, have either closed or are trading in the red.