Mumbai Stock market barometer Sensex today tumbled 310 points, as investors were spooked by an overnight crash in US stocks and weakness in Asian and European markets over concerns about the deepening financial crisis in Greece.
The 30-share Sensex fell for the second consecutive day to close at 17,380.08, down 310.54 points or 1.76 per cent -- the worst since February five. It touched a low of 17,344.58 during the day.
Analysts said that stocks across the world took a severe beating, as investor sentiment turned bearish on fears that intensifying Greece debt crisis may spill over to other markets and have implications for the Eurozone's economic stability.
"The markets today reacted sharply on the news related to Greece and Portugal. The Indian markets followed the global trend and fell. The second reason was the derivative expiry which is due tomorrow," Angel Broking VP (Research) Sarabjit Kaur Nagra said.
The National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty index too fell 1.75 per cent to settle at 5,215.45 points.
Trading sentiment was also affected by bluechips such as RIL, ICICI Bank, Maruti and Bharti Airtel falling short of Dalal Street's expectations, brokers said.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries, which is slipping since the announcement of its quarterly results, nosedived further by 4.16 per cent to Rs 1,017. ICICI Bank fell 2.93 per cent to Rs 918.65.
Among the 30 constituents of Sensex, 25 scrips ended in the red, while five stocks managed to buck the trend and ended in the positive territory.
In Europe, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index fell 0.30 per cent, Frankfurt's DAX 30 lost 0.30 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 fell 0.76 per cent.
The Nikkei-225 index opened 206.36 points lower, mainly on concerns triggered by rating agency Standard & Poor's downgrading Greece's debt to junk status.
