The markets touched fresh lows in the afternoon session, with the Sensex slipping below the crucial 19,000-level mark to 18,977 off 158 points, a fall of 275 points from the day's high, and the Nifty at 5,697 off 53 points.
State Bank of India was the highest loser down nearly 4% at Rs 2,707, contributing 36 points to the total loss on the Sensex as the country's largest lender saw heavy selling ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's policy review on May 3, in which, it is expected, another round of rate hikes to the effect of minimum 25 basis points will take place. Auto stocks MAruti Suzuki and Bajaj Auto shed 2% each at Rs 1,293 abd 1,435 respectively. Sterlite Industries shed nearly 2%, while another banking major ICICI Bank slipped more than 3% to Rs 1,100, with a 20 point-loss on the BSE benchmark.
Oil & gas exploration major Reliance Industries, which declined almost 1% to Rs 974, contributed to a total loss of 18 points on the Sensex.
Only seven of the 30 Sensex components were trading in positive terrain as weakness gripped the markets. DLF was the top gainer on the Sensex at Rs 228, followed by pharma scrip Cipla at Rs 315 and Tata Power at Rs 1,328 all up 2%.
There was a dip in the broader markets, as the Mid-cap index at 7,035 and the Small-cap index at 8,647 shed 0.8% each.
The Realty index continued to top the sectoral indices chart at 2,204, followed by the Healthcare index at 6,282 both up 1% each.
THe banking counter was under pressure as it shed 2% at 12,808. Major losers in this space were Bank of India, which plummeted 7% to Rs 426, Canara Bank at Rs 605, Kotak Mahindra at Rs 414 and Federal Bank at Rs 405, all down 4%. SBI also shed 4%, while Union Bank, Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda slipped 3% each.
Consumer Durables stocks were laggards in trade, and the index let off nearly 2% at 6,283, while the PSU index slipped 1% to 8,955.
Market breadth was extremely negative, with 988 advances versus 1,641 declines.