The Sensex ended 268 points or 0.7 per cent lower to close at 37,060.

Extending their losses to a second straight day, the S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes declined on Wednesday led by losses in HDFC, ITC, Larsen & Toubro, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India. The Sensex fell as much as 300 points and the Nifty 50 index slid below 10,950 during the session. The benchmark indexes fluctuated between gains and losses, and changed direction at least six times before giving in to the negative territory, as broad-based selling pressure gripped the markets in noon deals.

The Sensex ended 268 points or 0.7 per cent lower to close at 37,060 and the broader NSE Nifty 50 index dropped 98 points or 0.9 per cent to settle at 10,919.

All the 11 sector gauges compiled by National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended lower, led by a 3 per cent drop in the Nifty PSU Bank index. Metal, realty, media, bank and pharma sector gauges also fell between 1 and 2.9 per cent each.

Mid- and small-cap shares underperformed their larger peers, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 indexes dropping 1.6 per cent and 2 per cent respectively.

Tata Motors was top loser in the Nifty 50 basket of shares. The stock dropped over 11 per cent to Rs 109.540, its lowest level in 17 years, after China's Geely Automobile Holdings said that its profit fell 40 per cent amid a sustained downturn in the world's biggest auto market, leading to analysts and traders worrying about Tata Motors China sales going ahead.

Yes Bank plunged 8.6 per cent on top of yesterday's 7 per cent decline after news agency Bloomberg reported that the bank owned a 13 per cent stake in CG Power and Industrial Solutions. CG Power and Industrial Solutions is the latest company after Reliance Capital, Fortis and Manpasand Beverages to report lapses in corporate governance.

Indiabulls Housing Finance, Grasim Industries, Tata Steel, GAIL, Coal India and UltraTech Cement were also among prominent losers, finishing with losses of between 3 and 8 per cent.

On the flipside, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Eicher Motors and Hindustan Unilever were among top gainers.

Overall market breadth was extremely bearish as 1,341 shares closed lower while 441 shares ended higher on the NSE.