The BSE Sensex slid a staggering 477 points to close at 17,445 points. The Nifty lost 148.10 points to close the day at 5281.20 points. This was the highest ever fall the markets have recorded since December 2011.

In fact, the markets opened the day in the green and soon slid into the red. Amongst the major losers in trade today were the high beta metal stocks, banking and infrastructure stocks. Sesa Goa, SAIL, Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure were the major losers among the Nifty stocks.

Heavyweights like L&T, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank contributed in big measure to the loss in the Sensex.

Among the few gainers in the Nifty included ITC and Sun Pharma.

Marketmen continue to be worried over the implications of rising crude on the Indian economy. The government is already running a huge subsidy bill on account of crude, putting an impact on the fiscal and current account deficit of the country.

Oil has now reached a 10-month high and is showing no signs of retreating on mounting fears of Iranian crude supply. In the last week itself, Brent crude climbed by 3.5%. There are also worries that rising crude may be a major dampener for the RBI to cut rates going forward.

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