The markets saw a sharp cut in today''s session on account of political concerns looming large. They opened in positive taking cues from Asia but saw a sharp fall.

Some of the Asian markets which opened in green were off day''s high and ended weak.

Sensex was down nearly 300 points or 2%. Broader markets have taken it on their chin and are the midcap and smallcap indices were down 4%. Breadth of the market was absolutely weak, with advance decline ratio at 1:10.

Sensex closed down 281.97 points or 1.59% at 17491.39, and the Nifty down 100.75 points or 1.94% at 5085.10.

About 621 shares have advanced, 2364 shares declined, and 56 shares are unchanged.

Heavy selling was witnessed across the sectors led by realty, metals and pharma.

Top gainers on the indices are Satyam, Bhel, TCS, Wipro, VSNL and HDFC Bank.

Top losers on the indices are are Reliance Energy, Ranbaxy, Zee Entertainment, Unitech ACC and Tata Steel.

The BSE Midcap Index ended at 7,211.60 down 3.6%.

The BSE Smallcap Index ended at 8,801.00 down 3.3%.

The BSE Bankex was down 2.6% at 8,984.86. Andhra Bank, Karnataka Bank, Kotak Mahindra, SBI, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, Bank of India moved upwards.

The BSE Capital Goods Index was down 2% at 15,445.63. Bharat Elec, Praj Industries, Jyoti Structure, BEML, Triveni Eng, Gammon India closed lower.

The BSE Auto Index closed at 5,270.71 down 2%. TVS Motor, Ashok Leyland, Maruti Udyog, Apollo Tyres, Mah and Mah, Exide Industrie, Hero Honda closed lower.

The BSE Metal Index closed at 13,589.61 down 4%. Tata Steel, SAIL, Shree Precoated, Jindal Steel, Mah Seamless, Hindalco, JindalStainless closed lower.

The BSE FMCG Index closed at 2,089.61 down 1%. United Spirits, Bata India, United Brewerie, Colgate, HUL
closed lower

BSE Oil and Gas Index closed at 9,797.65 down 3%. RNRL, Essar Oil, Petronet LNG, IOC, Reliance, Reliance Petro ended in red.

The BSE IT Index was up 0.6% at 4,770.31. Satyam, HCL Tech, Infosys, Patni Computer, Wipro, TCS closed higher

The BSE realty Index lost 3.6% at 9,283.22. Anant Raj Ind, Ansal Propertie, Unitech, Indiabulls Real, Omaxe closed lower.

The NSE cash turnover was at Rs 15985.52 crore and the NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 69842.2 crore. The BSE cash turnover was Rs 7210.25 crore. Total market wide turnover was at Rs 93037.97 crore.

Asian markets were trading firm. Hong Kong''s Hang Seng surged 1.72% or 478.05 points at 28,309.57, Taiwan''s Taiwan Weighted advanced 1.14% or 109.22 points at 9,726.48, Singapore''s Straits Times rose 1.09% or 41.50 points at 3,864.12 and South Korea''s Seoul Composite gained 1.01% or 20.10 points at 2,016.13.