Equity benchmarks had another rough day on Monday, with the Sensex plummeting 1,457 points and the Nifty tumbling to the 15,774 level, mirroring an extremely weak trend in global markets along with unrelenting foreign fund outflows.
Index majors ICICI Bank, Infosys and Reliance Industries bore the brunt of heavy selling.
The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 1,456.74 points or 2.68 per cent to settle at 52,846.70. During the day, it plummeted 1,776.36 points or 3.27 per cent to 52,527.08.
The Nifty tanked 427.40 points or 2.64 per cent to close at 15,774.40.
Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, TCS, NTPC, Infosys and State Bank of India were the major laggards in the Sensex pack.
The BSE benchmark had ended 1,016.84 points or 1.84 per cent lower at 54,303.44 on Friday. The broader NSE Nifty had plunged 276.30 points or 1.68 per cent to 16,201.80.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai settled with deep cuts.
Markets in Europe were also facing heavy selling pressure in mid-session deals.
Stock exchanges in the US ended sharply lower on Friday.
"Weak global cues ahead of the Fed meet painted benchmark indices here in a sea of red as street awaits CPI data today on a day when the rupee hit a new low. The risk off mode in equities globally after the US inflation print raised fears of an aggressive rate hike..." said S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.98 per cent to USD 120.75 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 3,973.95 crore on Friday, as per exchange data.
