Equities benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty cracked nearly 1 per cent as heavy selling prevailed in market bellweths HDFC Bank, TCS and Reliance as investors appeared to grow restive on concern over earnings growth amid unbridled foreign capital outflows.
Besides, miserably low inflation data from China, which reflect poor demand there, and sales in US bonds added to pressure, said dealers.
Tata Consultancy is starting the much-awaited December-quarter results calendar tomorrow.
Falling for the second successive day, the 30-share benchmark sank 528.28 points or 0.68 per cent to slip below the 78,000 mark to 77,620.21. Intra-day, it plummeted by 605.57 points or 0.77 percent to 77,542.92.
NSE Nifty crashed by 162.45 points or 0.69 per cent to 23,526.50.
From the 30-share Sensex blue-chip pack, major laggards were Tata Steel, Zomato, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors, Adani Ports, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank and NTPC.
Major gainers were Nestle, Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints and Bharti Airtel.
On Wednesday, exchange data showed Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 3,362.18 crore.
"The Indian stock market joined its Asian peers in declining, as investor sentiment was said to be cautious owing to a US bond sell-off. The US 10-year Treasury yield surged to its highest since April 2024, signaling the expectation of fewer rate cuts by the Fed.".
"Further, disappointing inflation data from China added pressure, indicating that recent stimulus measures have failed to rejuvenate one of the world's largest consumer markets," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
Asian markets: Seoul settled in positive territory, while Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.
European markets were trading on a mixed note. US markets ended mostly in the green on Wednesday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude shed 0.11 per cent to USD 76.05 a barrel.
The BSE benchmark declined 50.62 points or 0.06 per cent to settle at 78,148.49 on Wednesday. The Nifty skidded 18.95 points or 0.08 per cent to 23,688.95.
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