The BSE benchmark Sensex suffered the biggest fall of the year so far, crashing by nearly 770 points. The NSE Nifty too tumbled over 225 points after panic set across the board with investors fretting over the deepening economic slowdown in India and the global trade wars.
Recent macroeconomic data on GDP, core sectors and auto sales are all pointing towards a deepening economic crisis in the country. Investors seem understandly jittery as a result.
After nosediving 867 points during the day, the 30-share BSE index ended 769.88 points, or 2.06 per cent, lower at 36,562.91.
The broader Nifty sank 225.35 points, or 2.04 per cent, to settle at 10,797.90.
Here are the key updates from Tuesday's markets:
Banks topped the list of losers in the Sensex pack after the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the megabank merger on Friday.
ICICI Bank (4%), Tata Steel (4.5%), Vedanta (3.5%), HDFC (4%), IndusInd Bank (3.7 %), Tata Motors (4%), Reliance Industries (3.8%) and ONGC (3.1%) were among the top losers.
Public-sector bank stocks, led by Corporation Bank and Punjab National Bank, tumbled up to 9.3 per cent on Tuesday. Shares of Corporation Bank tanked 9.28 per cent to Rs 17.10, Punjab National Bank plunged 8.54 per cent to Rs 59.40, Canara Bank dropped 7.54 per cent to its one-year low of Rs 203.90.
Auto stocks witnessed a heavy sell-off after top automakers reported a slump in August sales. Tata Motors (4%), Bosch (4.4%), Motherson Sumi (3%) and Eicher Motors (2.8%) were among the biggest losers.
ONGC was among the worst performers today. The company's shares fell as much as 3 per cent following reports of major fire, which killed four, at the company's oil and gas processing plant in Uran, Navi Mumbai.
Rupee also suffered a big fall against greenback. INR breached 72.37 marks as opposed to its previous close of 71.40. A string of weak GDP figures and the strengthening of the US dollar weighed on the Indian Rupee.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan ended on a mixed note after the US and China on Sunday put in place their latest tariff increases on each other's goods.