Bears tightened their grip over the Indian market today as the benchmark BSE Sensex plummeted by 562.88 points to hit nearly 14-month low of 25,201.90 amid heavy selling in global equities ahead of the US jobs report.
Today's closing was the lowest level since July 14, 2014 when the index had closed at 25,006.98.
Experts say a strong non-farm payrolls data is expected to allow Federal Reserve to consider a September rate hike.
"The global risk is getting highlighted with the focus mounting on the prospects of a US rate hike soon," said Vinod Nair Head-Fundamental Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial.
Fresh weakness in the rupee against dollar also weighed.
On a weekly basis, the Sensex lost 1,190.48 points or 4.51 per cent and Nifty fell 346.90 points or 4.33 per cent. This is the fourth straight weekly plunge for both the indices.
On the day, the NSE Nifty also cracked the 7,700-level.
Gaurav Jain Director of Hem Securities blamed continued selling pressure by the foreign investors, weakness in rupee and global jitters for the sell-off.
The 30-share index stayed in the negative zone for most part of the day and touched a low of 25,119.06 before ending at 25,201.90, a steep fall of 562.88 points or 2.18 per cent.
The gauge had gained 311.22 points in yesterday's trade.
The broader NSE Nifty also succumbed to all-round selling and slipped below the crucial 7,700-mark to settle the session 167.95 points or 2.15 per cent down at 7,655.05.
In broader markets, small-cap and mid-cap indices closed lower by 2.47 per cent and 1.90 per cent, respectively.
Vedanta was the top Sensex loser, tumbling 4.84 per cent, followed by GAIL 4.73 per cent.
Out of 30-share Sensex pack, 28 fell, while only Bharti Airtel and Coal India managed to buck the trend.
Sectorally, BSE realty index suffered the most by plunging 3.32 per cent, followed by infra 3.24 per cent, power 3.03 per cent, bankex 2.65 per cent, healthcare 2.42 per cent and IT 2.34 per cent.
Among other Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei fell 2.15 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.45 per cent, while Chinese financial markets remained closed today.
European markets were also in deep red on anticipations of a strong US jobs data.
