Equity market crashed mid-day reflecting concerns over escalating global trade tensions including the latest announcement of additional 10 per cent tariff on Chinese products.

Sensex plunged 1214.48 pts or 1.63 per cent to 73,397.95 as at 12.45 pm, while Nifty 50 tanked 374.45 pts or 1.66per cent to 22,170.60.

Nifty midcap 100 fell 2.86 per cent to 47,732.55 and Nifty smallcap 100 declined 2.83 per cent to 14,727.85.

All sectoral indices traded in red, with IT stocks witnessing the maximum pressure. Nifty IT index declining 3.86 per cent to 37,442.70 as at 12.19 pm. Consumer durables and FMCG indices dipped 2.79 per cent and 1.66 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, banking stocks show resilience. Nifty bank and private bank indices slipped 0.56 per cent and 0.53 per cent, respectively.

Only 275 stocks advanced on the National Stock Exchange, while 2,508 declined among 2,843 stocks traded in total.

The FIIs selling piled up additional pressure on the markets.

Emphasising the uncertainty and volatility of stock markets, Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services stated, “March is likely to witness recovery in the Indian market backed by better macro news flows and subdued FII selling. Long-term investors can utilise the weakness in the market to slowly accumulate fairly-valued quality largecaps and select fairly-valued stocks in the broader market, like defence stocks for instance.”

Top gainers & losers

Shares of Coal India, HDFC Bank, Shriram Finance, Axis Bank and Reliance topped the list of Nifty 50 gainers, while IndusInd, Tech Mahindra, Titan, Wipro and M&M traded among major laggards.

Coal India led the gainers of Nifty 50 constituents, trading positive by 2.27 per cent to ₹372.1 with trading volume of 120.40 lakh shares. HDFC Bank followed with a 1.14 per cent increase to ₹1,720.1. Shriram Finance stock rose 1.11 per cent to ₹613.55.

Shares of Axis Bank and Reliance traded flat at ₹1,025.15 and ₹1,207.15, respectively.

On the losing side, IndusInd stock tanked 5.54 per cent to ₹988.7. Tech Mahindra followed with a loss of 5.37 per cent to ₹1,503.

Titan and Wipro stock dragged by 4.49 per cent and 4.36 per cent to trade at ₹3,078.5 and ₹281.65, respectively.

Auto major Mahindra and Mahindra dipped 3.79 per cent to ₹2,623.15.

In addition, shares of Aarti Drugs, Adani Green Energy, ACC, and ABB India were among those 694 stocks that hit a 52-week low. on the NSE.

On the BSE, Aditya Birla Real Estate, Patanjali Foods and Redington stocks fell over 10 per cent.