NEW DELHI: On Friday, the markets saw sharpest fall since August 2017 as it gave a cold shoulder to Budget 2018 with benchmark indices plummeting below key psychological markets.

Union Budget 2018: Complete Coverage

At 3.15 pm, Sensex hit intra-day low of 35,006.41, down 900.25 points. Nifty was down 270 points. The BSE index pared slightly but the losses were hovering around 900 points as markets drew towards close.

Analysts say the slump is a result of the introduction of LTCG tax has caused stir in the market which had been marching on a bull run till a couple of days ahead of budget. "Near term volatilities could be possible as market readjusts itself to budget announcements and LTCG as well", said Lakshmi Iyer ,CIO – Debt & Head – Products, Kotak Asset Management.

Know all about LTCG tax here

When trading started, the BSE index lost 199 points and Nifty lost 79 points to start trading 10,938.20 as they slipped below respective psychological marks of 36,000 and 11,000.

Realty stocks were bleeding the most with the sectoral sub-index down more than 6 per cent. Bank stocks were dragging too with both Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Public Bank sub-indices losing more than 2.5 per cent each. IT scrips were holding forte to some extent



In Video: Sensex slips 500 points, Nifty below 11,000