The benchmark indices saw huge profit booking on the back of sell-off across the sectors barring technology. Metal, banking, realty and infrastructure stocks dragged the Nifty near to the 4400 mark and the Sensex towards the 14,600 level. Both the indices opened choppy with a positive bias.

The negative global cues also weighed on our markets. The broader indices widely underperformed the benchmark indices. On the sectoral front, the Realty Index was down 10.5% followed by Metal and Bank indices, which declined 6.5% and 4.4%, respectively.

The 30-share BSE Sensex touched an intraday low of 14,604.23, before closing the session at 14,665.92, down 437.63 points or 2.9%. The 50-share NSE Nifty shut shop at 4429.90, down 3.42% or 157 points, after seeing a low of 4404.65.

Among the broader indices, the BSE Midcap Index tumbled 294.93 points or 5.45%, to 5,114.85 and the Smallcap Index fell 5.8% or 374.77 points, to settle at 6,083.88.

Only 4 stocks each out of 30-Sensex and 50-Nifty ended in the green. Frontliners like Jaiprakash Associates, DLF, Tata Steel, Reliance Communication, Reliance Infrastructure, SBI, Ranbaxy Labs, Tata Motors, Hindalco, ONGC, Grasim and ACC plunged 5-10% on the BSE.

Mitesh Thacker, Technical Analyst of miteshthacker.com said, "The Nifty will find it extremely difficult to get beyond 4,600 for a couple of reasons; first one - the 10-week RSI indicator was at around 86 levels yesterday. Since 1994, we have not seen the 10-week RSI go beyond 86 to 89. That is the level where we see the overbought markets generally peak out. So I think we are in for some kind of a broader or bigger consolidation issues involved, a correction from 4,600 which could take us down to 4,320 or even 4,200."

Sectoral indices
It was a sharp cut in realty space; Unitech was down 13.8%. Mahindra Life, HDIL, DLF, Indiabulls Real and Omaxe were down 10-13.6%.

Metal stocks witnessed huge profit booking; JSW Steel, Tata Steel, SAIL and Jindal Saw fell 9-13%. JSL, NALCO, Hindalco and Sterlite were down 3-6.7%.

Banking stocks lost the ground as well. PNB and SBI lost 6.7-7%. Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda and ICICI Bank were down 3.6-2.4%. HDFC Bank fell 1.37%.

In the capital goods space, Punj Lloyd plunged 10.65%. Siemens, L&T and BHEL declined 2.5-4.7%.

Among the power stocks, Reliance Infrastructure, GVK Power, Suzlon Energy, GMR Infra, CESC, Power Grid Corp, Reliance Power and NTPC were down 2.5-8.5%.

Auto stocks like Ashok Leyland, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and M&M fell 1.8-9.6%.

In the FMCG space, United Spirits, Marico, ITC, United Breweries, Tata Tea and Dabur India tanked 2-7%.

In the oil & gas pack, HPCL, ONGC and Cairn India were down 5-6%. IOC, BPCL, Reliance Petroleum and Reliance Industries slipped 1-2.4%.

Telecom stocks were also under pressure. Reliance Communication was down 8.7%. MTNL, Tata Teleservices, Idea Cellular, Tata Communication and Bharti Airtel fell 1.6-8%.
 
However, only technology sector haven't caught in bears' hand. Infosys, TCS and Wipro gained 2% each.

Among the midcap stocks, Dish TV India, Patni Computer, Religare Enterprises, Jet Airways and IRB Infra tumbled 12-16%.

In the smallcap space, IOL Chemicals, SREI Infra, Mahindra Life, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure, Uflex, Jindal Drilling and Indo Rama Synthetic fell 12-15%.

Gwalior Chemical was at 5% upper circuit, as it sold its chemical and windmill business to Lanxess India for Rs 536 crore that was 90% premium to book value. The company said would distribute up to Rs 100 crore to shareholder via dividend and/or buyback. It will retain its Ankleshwar facility.

The breadth remained in favour of declines; about 634 shares advanced while 2279 shares declined on the BSE. Nearly 227 shares remained unchanged.

Volumes declined as compared to previous session; total traded turnover stood at Rs 94,495.40 crore as against Rs 1,01,636.53 crore. This comprised of Rs 21,285.21 crore from NSE cash segment, Rs 65,877.15 crore from NSE F&O and the balance Rs 7,333.04 crore from BSE cash segment.

Global cues
Global markets were under pressure. At the time of closing of Indian equities, the FTSE was down 62 points, to 4,376. The CAC fell 53 points, to 3,284 and the DAX declined 88 points, to 4,988.

Among the US futures, the Dow Jones Futures fell 86 points, to 8,676 and the Nasdaq futures lost 17 points, to 1,478.

Asian markets ended mixed. Taiwan Weighted fell 3.34%. Straits Times and Hang Seng were down 2.61% and 2.28%, respectively. Jakarta Composite was down 1.07% and Kospi was flat. However, Nikkei gained 1% and Shanghai Composite was up 0.52%.