Indian markets plunged over 1.5 per cent at the end of the session on Tuesday on heavy selling by funds and retail investors in metal and realty stocks amid weak global cues.

Market participants resorted to heavy selling in interest-rate sensitive stocks after rupee fell to a new low of 58.96 on dollar outflows and persistend demand for dollar from banks and importers.

Metal stocks succumbed to selling pressure after CBI files fresh FIR against Congress Member of Parliament Naveen Jindal, his company Jindal Steel and Power, and former Minister of State for Coal, Dasari Rao, on the alleged coal block allocation scam.

The 30-share BSE index Sensex was down 297.34 points (1.53 per cent) at 19,143.73 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 91.35 points (1.55 per cent) at 5,786.65.

All BSE sectoral indices ended in the red.

Among them, consumer durables and metal were the worst-hit and were down 6.36 per cent and 4.13 per cent, respectively, followed by realty 3.68 per cent and banking 2.24 per cent.

Among 30-share Sensex, Cipla, Bajaj Auto, Wipro, GAIL and HUL were the top five gainers, while the top five losers were Jindal Steel, Hindalco, Tata Power, ONGC and ICICI Bank.

European stocks slid to a seven-week low as the Bank of Japan refrained from expanding stimulus and Treasury yields climbed. US index futures and Asian shares also declined.

In the Asian trade, Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 196.58 points or 1.45 per cent to 13,317.62 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 194.99 points or 0.9 per cent to 21,420.10.

Stoxx 50 shed 43.47 points or 1.6 per cent to 2,675.93, FTSE 100 fell 92.41 points or 1.44 per cent to 6,308.04 and DAX declined 122.71 points or 1.48 per cent to 8,184.98.

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