Cues from Asia were not very encouraging as most of the Asia closing in red. Hang Seng down 1450 points or 5%, Shanghai down 2.5%, Straits and Thailand were down nearly 2% each.
Top gainers on the indices were Ranbaxy, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, SBI, NTPC, Tata Power, PNB and HPCL.
Noida Toll Bridge, Jaiprakash Hydro, RNRL, HMT are among the other gainers from broader markets.
Top losers on the indices were ONGC & ICICI Bank down over 4% each, HDFC Bank down 3%, Infosys and GlaxoSmithKline.
Sensex was down 385.45 points or 1.93% at 19590.78, and the Nifty down 85.10 points or 1.43% at 5847.30.
About 1569 shares have advanced, 1418 shares declined, and 75 shares are unchanged.
The BSE Smallcap Index ended at 9,847.02 down 1.1%.
The BSE Bankex was down 2% at 11,007.95. Union Bank, IOB, ICICI Bank, Andhra Bank, Karnataka Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Bank of India moved downwards.
The BSE Capital Goods Index was down 2% at 20,052.28. Punj Lloyd, AIA Engineering, Areva T&D, ABB, BHEL closed lower.
The BSE Auto Index closed at 5,328.69 down 2%. Bharat Forge, Maruti, Escorts, MRF, Cummins, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto closed lower.
The BSE Metal Index closed at 17,401.69 down 2%. Hindalco, Shree Precoated, NALCO, Hind Zinc, Mah Seamless closed lower.
The BSE FMCG Index closed at 2,026.66 down 4%. HUL, ITC, United Spirits, Tata Tea, United Brewerie, Colgate, HUL closed lower
BSE Oil and Gas Index closed down 2% at 11,505.54. ONGC down 4.9%, RIL down 1.9% ended in red.
The BSE IT Index was down 1.5% at 4,567.13. Mphasis, Patni Computer, Tech Mahindra, I-Flex Solution, TCS closed lower.
The NSE cash turnover was at Rs 22771.1 crore and the NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 77646.90 crore. The BSE cash turnover was Rs 9008.86 crore. Total market wide turnover was at Rs 109426.86 crore.