Asian markets ended gloomy. Taiwan was the top loser closing with a loss of 4%.
The market breadth was extremely weak on brisk turnover. Midcaps were not spared either and saw a huge sell off.
Real Estate, metal, cap goods, media were the worst hit. Sugar stocks did good for themselves. BSE Metal and realty index is down over 4%, followed by banking and capital goods index down over 3%
Nifty Futures widened to 50 points.
The fall was initiated by cracks in US markets. Dow plunged 311.50 points, or 2.26 percent, to 13,473.57, after falling 449.77 in earlier trading. The close was its worst since the 416.02 points it lost on Feb. 27.
The plunge was seen in US on concerns that higher corporate borrowing costs would curb the rapid pace of takeovers that had driven stocks higher this year. Investors also feared the sluggish environment for home sales and continued defaults in subprime loans would spur debt defaults and weigh on corporate earnings.
Sensex closed down 541.74 points or 3.4% at 15,234.57 and Nifty closed down 174 points at 4445.
The BSE Midcap Index ended at 6,598.32 down 192 points or 2.8%.
The BSE Smallcap Index ended at 7,926.45 down 219 points or 2.7%.
The BSE Bankex was down 3.2% at 7,920.19. Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Oriental Bank, PNB, HDFC Bank moved downwards.
The BSE Capital Goods Index was down 3.8% at 12,748.77. Alstom Projects, Gammon India, Astra Microwave, Jyoti Structure, BHEL, Reliance Infra closed lower.
The BSE Health Care Index was down 2.6% at 3,691.36. Sterling Bio, Matrix Lab, Lupin, GlaxoSmithKline, Wockhardt closed lower.
The BSE Auto Index closed at 4,943.50 down 3%. Ashok Leyland, Escorts, Tata Motors, Hind Motors, Hero Honda, Tube Investment closed higher.
The BSE Metal Index closed at 11,501.52 down 5.3%. Tata Steel, Shree Precoated, Hind Zinc, Hindalco, SAIL closed lower.
The BSE FMCG Index closed at 1,927.86 down 0.1%. United Brewerie, Dabur India, HUL, United Spirits, Bata India closed higher
BSE Oil and Gas Index closed at 8,015.75 down 3.7%. ONGC, Reliance Natura, Petronet LNG, Reliance, HPCL ended in red.
The BSE IT Index lost 2.5% at 4,876.34. Mphasis, Patni Computer, Financial Tech, HCL Tech, Satyam, Wipro closed lower.
The NSE cash turnover was at Rs 15450.73 crore and the NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 65777.96 crore. The BSE cash turnover was Rs 6596.79 crore. Total market wide turnover was at Rs 87825.48 crore.