The Indian markets witnessed a virtual carnage due to global jitters amid caution ahead of the earning season, resulting in across-the-board selling.
It sent the benchmark Nifty plummeting sharply by a massive 93 points to hit 1-1/2 month low and closed below the psychological 7,900 mark.
The selling was indiscriminate as all sectoral indices bore the brunt of the intense sell-off even as mid-cap and small-cap crumbled.
Renewed fears of a recession in the Eurozone following downbeat industrial data from Germany and downgrading China's growth outlook against the backdrop of heightened uncertainty over the US monetary policy mainly rattled investors confidence once again.
With the domestic earnings season round the corner, investors exercised extreme caution and taking out some profits, a floor traded commented.
Tech major Infosys will kick start the second quarter earnings season on October 10.
The NSE benchmark Nifty swung between a high of 7,943.05 and a low of 7,842.70 before concluding at 7,852.40, showing a sharp drop of 93.15 points, or 1.17 per cent.
HDFC, L&T, TCS, Sun Pharma, SBI, Sesa Sterlite, ONGC, M&M, DR Reddy's, Cipla, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Ultracemco, Hero Motoco, Hindalco, Cairn, ITC, Bank of Baroda, Tata Steel, Zee, Lupin, Maruti and DLF were among the biggest index laggards.
However, a handful of frontline stocks withstood the market carnage and posted gains included NTPC, Gail, Power Grid, Tata Power, Wipro, Tata Motors and Bharti Airtel.
Turnover in the cash segment jumped to Rs 15,375.31 crore compared to Rs 13,081.76 crore last Wednesday. A total of 7,691.85 lakh shares changed hands in 76,00,121 trades, while market capitalisation stood at Rs 90,47,851 crore.
