Sensex tumbles 212 pts on weak global cues; Airtel falls 3 pc

Besides, investor sentiment took a further hit amid CBI today filing a charge sheet in connection with alleged irregularities in spectrum allocation during the NDA regime involving three telecom players, including Bharti Airtel. The telecom major's shares closed over 3 per cent lower.

Selling picked up in the second half of the trading session with all 13 sectoral indices closing down, led by realty, metal, pharma, capital foods, power, auto and banking.

The BSE 30-share barometer remained in negative terrain throughout the day to settle at 19,242.00, a fall of 211.92 points or 1.09 per cent. Today's fall was the worst singe-day performance since October 8 when Sensex lost 229.48 points.

Declines in RIL, ICICI Bank, L&T, SBI, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors, Jindal Steel, Sun Pharma, ONGC, M&M and Sterlite Industries together accounted for over 150-point hit for the Sensex.

Overall 28 out of 30 index constituents closed with losses while TCS and ITC were the lone gainers.

Similarly, the broader 50-issue S&P CNX Nifty of the NSE also dipped by 68.70 points or 1.16 per cent to 5,847.70.

Brokers said a steep fall in overseas stock markets on worries over US budget deficit issue mainly pulled down Indian shares.

"Global cues were not supportive as US fiscal cliff issues continue to overshadow any other economic news," Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL, said.

Second-line stocks attracted profit-booking by retail investors and their indices, BSE-Midcap (-1.47 pc) and BSE-Smallcap (-1.47 pc), underperformed the Sensex. (MORE)