The virtual absence of foreign institutional investor (FII) interest, the rupee depreciation and a massive selling pressure on the Zee Telefilms counter combined to bring down the sensex by 120 points to close at 4,458.40.
The meltdown in the Asian markets added fuel to the panic as the sensex closed below the psychological barrier of 4,500.
Zee Telefilms results, announced late on Tuesday evening, continued to puzzle fund managers who were not able to make up their mind on whether the company's performance was positive. Zee, which has a 9.77 per cent weightage in the sensex, hit the lower 12 per cent circuit-filter.
The Business Standard ICE Index, the convergent economy stocks indicator, dipped by 4.81 per cent, or 10.25 points, to close at 202.92. In the process, Rs 17,847 crore worth of market capitalisation eroded to reach Rs 7,56,050 crore.
The lower closing of the Nasdaq due to the likely Fed rate hike also compelled most Asian markets like Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo and Jakarta to closer lower.
The sensex opened below the 4,500 psychological barrier and touched an intra-day low of 4,449.89 points. However, during the fag end of the trading session the market players reported institutional buying due to which the Sensex marginally higher at 4,458.40. Similarly, the S&P CNX Nifty also ended the day with a loss of 15.40 points to close at 1,363.15.
