The stock market lost further ground tracking negative global cues and as investors were unwilling to buy shares given the uncertainty on the economic front in India. Technology and banking shares were hit hardest in the slide.
At 1:30 pm, the Sensex was down 291 points or 1.93 percent at 14,774.62. The index touched a low of 14,743.08 after briefly scaling 15,088.03.
Biggest index losers were ONGC (down 6.07%), HDFC (5%), HDFC Bank (4.96%), Infosys Technologies (4.68%) and Tata Consultancy Services (4.33%).
The major gainers were Ranbaxy Laboratories (up 4.66%), Cipla (2.11%), BHEL (0.75%), Reliance Industries (0.46%), Hindustan Unilever (0.13%).
The Nifty was down 93 points or 2.06 percent at 4408.40.
Indices dropped in Europe with banks and financial such as Barclays and Societe Generale leading the decline. The FTSE 100 lost 0.51 percent, the DAX 30 slid 1.02 percent and the CAC 40 slipped 1.3 percent.
Meanwhile, the Asia Pacific region saw no respite from the heavy selling pressure.
Oil rose to $135 a barrel on Tuesday, but the market remained under pressure as the US dollar strengthened against the local currency.
