Mumbai: The downfall in bourses remained unabated for the third-straight session with the benchmark Nifty tumbling by a massive 92 points to close at 8,213.80 - its lowest close in three-and-a-half month on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) here.
Fearing the worst, panicky investors went on a selling spree pressured by consistent FII unwinding on worries over retrospective taxation issues and lower-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings outcome.
The ferocity of selling was massive and indiscriminate as all sectoral indices bore the brunt of selling pressure.
However, the trouble for the broader market was even very severe as Mid-cap and Small-cap stocks got badly mauled in the carnage even some hitting multi-month lows.
Extreme caution ahead of F&O expiry and US Fed's two-day policy meet which begins on Tuesday also weighed on the sentiment.
The broader 50-share index fluctuated between a high of 8,334.45 and a low of 8,202.35 before concluding at 8,213.80, a hefty slide of 91.45 points or 1.10 percent.
Given the broad-based sell-off, all major sectoral indices finished in deep red with Realty plummeting by 4.12 percent followed by Healthcare 2.47 percent, PSU Bank 2.22 percent, FMCG 1.76 percent, Energy 1.45 percent, Bank Nifty 1.30 percent, Infra 1.25 percent, Auto 0.56 percent and Tech 0.31 percent. While, the CNX Midcap and smallcap slumped by 2.28 percent and 3.29 percent respectively.
HDFC, ICICI Bank, SBI, Sun Pharma, ITC, HUL, ONGC, Kotak Bank, BPCL, Asian Paints, Infosys, Bharti Artel, L&T, Lupin, HCL-Tech, Cairn, BHEL, Reliance, Ultracemco, Yes Bank, Axis Bank, IDFC, Cipla, Heromotoco and ACC were among the biggest contributors to the fall.
Notabale gainers included auto major Maruti on the back of strong Q4 performance along with Idea, Wipro, Vedanta, TCS, ZEE, PNB and Tata Motors.
Meanwhile, other Asian equities ended firm after record breaking rally in US stocks boosted sentiment in Asia.
Turnover in the cash segment fell to Rs 18,945.64 crore from Rs 19,630.87 crore last Friday. A total of 7,688.39 lakh shares changed hands in 80,74,956 trades. The total market capitalisation of NSE stood at Rs 9,632,832 crore.
