The Sensex and the Nifty shed over 1.5 per cent at the end of the session on Thursday as the Budget proposals failed to enthuse the domestic sentiment.
Investors were unhappy over proposals like higher taxes on corporates and individuals and reduction in securities transaction tax on equity futures to 0.01 per cent from 0.17 per cent.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex was down 290.87 points (1.52 per cent) at 18,861.54 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 103.85 points (1.79 per cent)at 5,693.05.
Volume toppers were SBI, L&T, RIL, ICICI Bank and Tata Steel. Top five Sensex gainers were TCS, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma and Bajaj Auto, while the top five losers were SBI, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Maruti and L&T.
Barring Consumer Durables, IT and TECk sectors, all other BSE sectoral indices ended in the red. Among them, Power index was down 4.29 per cent, followed by Banking 3.59 per cent and Capital Goods 3.39 per cent.
European stocks climbed for a second day as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi signalled the continuation of monetary stimulus.
Asian shares were up tracking overnight cues from the Wall Street. US stocks had ended higher on Wednesday on upbeat economic data and the Federal Reserve chief’s commitment to loose the monetary policy.