Equity markets took a sharp plunge in the second half of trade on Tuesday as the BSE Sensex sank 1,425 points from its intra-day high of 72,039. The index, which jumped 615 points earlier in the day, was trading 774 points lower at 1:50 pm. The NSE Nifty pulled back to 21,311 with a loss of 244 points.
Large-cap majors, mostly banks, were the top drags. IndusInd bank, HUL, SBI, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, RIL, SBI Life, Coal India and ONGC dropped 3-5 per cent, leading losses on the frontline indices.
Midcap and Smallcap indices on the BSE held sharper losses of up to 2 per cent as compared to a 0.98 per cent fall in the benchmark indices.
Among sectors, Nifty Media index led losses with a downturn of 10 per cent, dragged by shares of Zee Entertainment, which cracked 30 per cent as its merger with Sony Group was called off.