Equity benchmarks fell for the third day running on Tuesday, with the Sensex tumbling 375 points in early trade, tracking weak global markets as investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting outcome.
Unabated foreign fund outflows continued to weigh on the domestic equity markets.
The 30-share BSE benchmark was trading 374.72 points lower at 52,471.98. The Nifty declined by 100.15 points to 15,674.25.
From the Sensex pack, Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, Titan and HDFC were the major laggards in early trade.
On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid, NTPC, M&M and Bajaj Finserv were among the gainers.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai were trading lower in mid-session deals.
Stock exchanges in the US ended sharply lower on Monday.
The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 1,456.74 points or 2.68 per cent to settle at 52,846.70 on Monday. The Nifty tanked 427.40 points or 2.64 per cent to 15,774.40.
“The Fed is scheduled to make its next policy announcement on Wednesday and investors will be highly focused on any clues for how aggressive the central bank intends to be in raising rates,” said Mohit Nigam, Head-PMS, Hem Securities.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.02 per cent to $122.24 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth ₹4,164.01 crore on Monday, as per exchange data.