The continuous slide in the Chinese stock markets and the stalemate in the Greece debt talks dampened investor sentiments, leading to a barometer index of the Indian equity markets to provisionally close 497 points down on Wednesday.
The benchmark 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) provisionally closed 497.41 points or 1.77 percent down during Wednesday's trade session.
The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also provisionally closed deep in the red. It plunged 157 points or 1.84 percent at 8,353.85 points.
The Sensex, which opened at 28,031.45 points, provisionally closed at 27,674.28 points (at 3.30 p.m.) -- down 497.41 points or 1.77 percent from the previous day's close at 28,171.69 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 28,031.45 points and a low of 27,635.78 points in the intra-day trade.