A downward trend in the markets continued post-noon, with the Sensex touching 19,662 down 1%, and the Nifty at 5,893 down 2%.
Market breadth was fairly negative with 646 advances and 2183 declines.
Bharti Airtel up 1%, ONGC and Wipro were the top gainers on the Sensex, while HDFC Bank, Jindal Steel and Tata Steel, all down 3%, were the top losers.
The sectoral indices continued to move in a negative zone, with the Metal, Banking and the Consumer Durables indices at the lower rung of the table, both down 2%.
Auto stocks also contiued to decline in the light of a decrease in auto sales figures in November, accompanied with rising input prices such as steel and rubber.
The Healthcare index was at the top of the sectoral chart, followed by the Oil & Gas and PSU indices.
In the Asian markets, the Shanghai Composite and the Hang Seng were down 1%. The Taiwan Weighted and Seoul Composite were trading flat, while the Nikkei 225 was up nearly 1%.
