Mkt hit by panic selling; Nifty down 1.30% to end below 5100

The widespread selling amidst volatility sharply brought down all sectoral indices. FMCG, bank, oil&gas, tech, along with mid and small-cap scrips were hammered.

Indian bourses had been rattled over the past few days on fears over Spain's bailout amid global growth concerns.

Trading started on a modest positive note with buying coming in select heavyweights and blue-chips supported by strong Asian cues.

A lot of action was seen in mid-cap space, particularly in F&O stocks, as the removal of these stocks has led to heavy unwinding of long positions, causing volatility.

Market remained listless and range-bound for most part of the session in the absence of any direction.

The key index suddenly changed course in the last hour of trade as frantic profit-taking picked up pace. Further, the drop below the psychological 5,100 level aggravated the selling pressure across the board.

On global front, most Asian markets ended higher on optimism over more stimulus measures from economic powers.

The 50-share Nifty swung between a high of 5,126.30 and a low of 5,032.40 before concluding at 5,043.00, a steep fall of 66.60 points, or 1.30 per cent, over the last close.

PNB, DLF, Tata Power, Tata Motors, Sail, Cairn, Sesa Goa, RInfra, Axis Bank and SBIN were the top losers from the Nifty pack. Ambuja Cement, NTPC, Bajaj Auto, Grasim, Hindalco, Power Grid, Sun Pharma, Gail, Maruti and Dr Reddy's gained.

Today's sharp fall was accompanied by high turnover. The turnover in cash segment jumped to Rs 13,040.68 crore compared to Rs 9,010.66 crore yesterday. In all, 9,265.19 lakh shares changed hands in 53,87,129 trades. Market capitalisation stood at Rs 57,99,818 crore.