A view of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building.
Weakness in HDFC twins and Infosys led the Sensex down 703.59 points in the market during the end of trading on Tuesday.
Concerns over rising inflation and foreign fund outflows in the wake of the uncertain geopolitical situation also dampened investor confidence.
In highly volatile trade, the Sensex ended 703.59 points or 1.23 per cent lower at 56,463.15, as fag-and-selling emerged. In early trade, the benchmark touched a high of 57,464.08 and a low of 56,009.07 during the day. The NSE Nifty closed at 16,958.65, down 215 points or 1.25 per cent.
Both the indices closed in the red for the fifth consecutive session.
HDFC, HDFC Bank, Infosys, ITC, Tech Mahindra and HCL Technologies were among the laggards in the 30-share Sensex pack. Conversely, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India and Bajaj Finance were among the gainers.
In Asia, markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong closed lower, while those in Seoul and Tokyo were up. European markets were also trading with a fall in the afternoon session. Shares in the US closed with a slight decline on Monday. International oil benchmark Brent crude fell 1.39 per cent to $111.6 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors continued selling shares worth a net Rs 6,387.45 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.