The historic lows seen for West Texas Index (WTI) crude, which fell into the negative on Monday amid unprecedented oversupply, sent the Indian equity markets into a tailspin on Tuesday.
Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark 30-share index Sensex fell by over 900 points in early trading on Tuesday. The broader 50-share Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also fell 292 points early in the day.
Sensex closed at 31,648 on Monday. After opening at 30,836 on Tuesday, the index went down by over 900 points to trade at 30,720.
While banking stocks have pulled the Sensex down, pharmaceutical stocks helped the bourses maintain some spirit. Shares of Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and HDFC pulled up Sensex by at least 350 points. Forty-four different shares on the Nifty were in the red in early trading.