Markets were smashed out completely in today's trade on the back of bad global cues. Banking, technology, real estate, metal, telecom and oil stocks took huge beating. Frontline indices remained under pressure through the day followed by midcap and small cap stocks as well.

The Sensex closed at 14,483.83, falling 415.27 points or 2.79% and the Nifty Fifty plunged 95.45 points or 2.15%, to settle at 4352.30. Both indices hit an intraday low of 14,438.59 and 4328.90, respectively.

Bad global cues was the main culprit today. The markets opened sharply lower following weak US cues as jobless claims increased in the US. Even the Asian and European markets declined. Experts predict that the financial crisis would get worse.

SA Narayan, MD of Kotak Securities feels if the global markets continue to be in turmoil, India would follow. The liquidity is unlikely to come back in a hurry. He sees the market in a broad range of 13000-16000.

Among the frontrunners, Ranbaxy Labs lost 8.77%, HDFC -5.78%, DLF -5.41%, Jaiprakash Associates -5.23%, Wipro -4.88% and Unitech -4.49%. However, BPCL gained 8.57%, HUL 1.85%, ITC 0.40% and ONGC 0.34%.

The Realty Index underperformed the other indices; it fell 216.46 points or 4.17% to 4,979.26. Akruti City, DLF, Unitech, Peninsula Land, Mahindra Life, Indiabulls Real and HDIL fell 3-6.5%. Orbit Corporation went up over 5% during the day on the news that SC has allowed builders to use 3-7x FSI for redevelopment projects in Mumbai. The stock settled with a gain of 1.43%.

IT Index lost 143.96 points or 3.52% to settle at 3,941.74 despite Indian rupee was trading well above 44.30 to a dollar in today's trade. There are fears that companies may reduce IT spending. Wipro, Rolta, Infosys, Satyam and HCL Tech tumbled 3-5%.

Bankex ended with a loss of 261.88 points or 3.52% at 7,172.85. Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bank of India and PNB lost 3-6.6%.

Metal Index crashed by 397.13 points or 3.26% to 11,785.77. Guj NRE Coke, Jindal Steel, Sterlite Ind, Tata Steel, SAIL, JSW Steel, Hindalco and NALCO ended with a loss of 2-5.5%.

Telecom stocks like Bharti Airtel, Tata Comm, TataTeleservice, MTNL, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communication also witnessed selling pressure.

Healthcare Index closed at 4,258.04, fell 92.14 points or 2.12%. Ranbaxy Labs, Cadila Health, Sun Pharma Advanced, Orchid Chemical, Dr Reddys Labs and Wockhardt have plunged.

Oil & Gas Index dropped 191.97 points or 1.95% to 9,652.68. Essar Oil, Reliance Industries, Cairn India, RNRL and GAIL were losers. However, oil marketing companies like BPCL, HPCL and IOC have gained smartly.

Capital Goods Index lost 1.7% or 207.58 points to settle at 11,980.60. Crompton Greaves, Punj Lloyd, Elecon Engg, L&T, Praj Industries and BHEL lost 2-4.4%.

Auto Index skid by 1.43% to 3,983.05. Bharat Forge, Cummins, Tata Motors, Escorts, Amtek Auto, Hero Honda, M&M and Maruti also slid.

Power Index was down by 1.07% to 2,627.30. CESC, GMR Infra, Power Grid Corp, GVK Power, NTPC, Tata Power and Suzlon Energy were major losers.

BSE Midcap Index fell 75.45 points or 1.29% to 5,753.72 and Small Cap Index lost 69.15 points or 0.99% to 6,905.22.

Among the midcaps, Akruti City, Gujarat Mineral, Gujarat NRE Coke, Rei Agro and Essar Shipping fell 5-6%.

In the small cap space, Usher Agro, SEL Manufacturing, Piramal Glass, Modern India, Aptech and Polaris crashed 5.5-8%.

The market turnover stood at Rs 63,055.53 crore. This includes Rs 11,390.26 crore from NSE Cash segment, Rs 46,868.19 crore from NSE F&O and balance Rs 4,797.08 crore from BSE Cash segment.

Reliance Industries, SBI, Reliance Infrastructure, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Austral Coke were most active counters on the bourses.

Market breadth remained in favour of declines. About 1118 shares advanced while 1771 shares declined. Nearly 286 shares remained unchanged.

Asian markets tanked in line with weak US markets. Shanghai, Hang Seng, Nikkei, Taiwan, Kospi, Straits Times and Jakarta fell 1-3.5%.