Benchmark indices crashed in intra-day trade today, with the Sensex dipping as much as 1,495 points from the day's high. However, in the last 30 minutes the markets recovered lost ground with the Sensex ending just 280 points lower.

The Nifty which lost as much as 330 points at one stage, recovered later and ended the day 91 points lower.

Today's noon crash was sudden and came after a fall in the stock of Dewan Housing Finance (DHFL), which dropped a huge 50 per cent in trade. This was after reports of DHFL defaulting on its commercial papers. Mortgage lenders, including Indiabulls Housing Finance and HDFC also crashed, pulling the indices lower.

The Dewan Housing management clarified that the company had enough liquidity and its CP outstanding stands at around Rs 7,500 crore. The company's management also stated that DHFL is not defaulting on its commercial papers.

Some reports suggested that the real problem maybe the IL&FS liquidity problem and places where some NBFCs may have exposure. Many analysts attribute today's decline to a contagion effect of IL&FS default.

The midcap index, which at one stage was down 6 per cent, recovered and ended marginally lower. Yes Bank was the top the loser from the Sensex and dropped 27 per cent after the RBI asked its managing director and CEO Rana Kapoor to step down after an extended term till January 31, 2019.

Interestingly, the crash was even despite solid robust cues from across the globe, wherein the Asian markets closed higher and European markets like the German FAX, the French CAC and the UK's FTSE were all trading higher.

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