The Sensex and the Nifty plunged nearly 1.1 per cent despite strong >global cues as traders remained circumspect due to the expiry of December month F&O contract.

The BSE benchmark Sensex plunged 297.85 points to 27,208.61 and the NSE index shed 92.9 points to 8,174.10.

Sectoral indices

Barring realty, all other BSE sectoral indices ended significantly in the red. Among them, IT index fell the most by 1.38 per cent, oil & gas 1.3 per cent, PSU 1.15 per cent and TECk 1.07 per cent, while realty index was up 1.14 per cent.

Gainers, losers

Major Sensex losers were BHEL 2.62%, NTPC 2.35%, GAIL 2.22%, ONGC 2.16% and HDFC 2.07%, while the only three gainers were SSLT 0.59%, Tata Steel 0.05% and ICICI Bank 0.03%.

Blue-chips such as HDFC tracked the falls in Chinese stocks. China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.9 per cent, to 2,973.76, dropping below 3,000 - a key support level - for the first time since December 17, and raising concerns of further falls.

The falls were accentuated in the second half of the session on redemption pressure at an Indian arbitrage fund that forced it to sell shares.

Faith in India's reform cycle remained robust after Prime Minister Narendra Modi resorted to a rarely-used executive decree on Wednesday to implement coal and insurance reforms after facing Opposition in Parliament.

A report by SMC Investments and Advisors said: "Asian stocks climbed with metals after data showed the US economy grew at the fastest pace since 2003 last quarter. An index tracking the dollar declined for the first time in six days and bond risk fell. US stocks rose on Tuesday with the Dow closing above 18,000 for the first-time ever and the S&P 500 ending at a record after an unexpectedly strong report on economic growth. US new home sales tumbled 1.6 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 438,000 in November from the revised October rate of 445,000.

Economists had expected new home sales to inch up to an annual rate of 460,000 in November from the 458,000 originally reported for the previous month.''

European markets

European stocks inched up on Wednesday in a shortened session ahead of the Christmas break, gaining ground for the seventh day in a row and mirroring a rally on Wall Street fuelled by unexpectedly strong US economic growth data.

Shares in British medical device maker Smith & Nephew Plc surged 7 per cent after Bloomberg reported US rival Stryker Corp was planning a takeover offer.

Asian markets

Japanese stocks rallied and the dollar stood tall on Wednesday thanks to surprisingly robust US economic growth, helping investors head into the Christmas holidays in a more relaxed mood after the global markets turbulence of the past two weeks.

Risk appetite got a helping hand from revised data showing the US economy grew at a 5.0 per cent clip in the third quarter, its quickest pace in 11 years and the strongest sign yet that growth has decisively shifted into higher gear.

That drove both the Dow and the S&P 500 to record closing highs overnight.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.3 per cent. South Korea's Kospi was up 0.4 per cent and Tokyo's Nikkei rallied 1.1 per cent.

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