New Delhi: Stock markets extending their sharp falls from the previous session for the second day on Tuesday as the rupee hovered near its record low, amidst fears of an escalation in the US-China tariff dispute that continue to haunt investors in broader Asian markets.


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The benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 37,413.13, down by 509.04 points or 1.34 percent, which was its biggest single-day fall since March 16 when it lost 509.54 points. Intra-day, Sensex had hit a low of 37,361.20 and high of 38,017.49.


The 50-share NSE Nifty also dropped below the 11,300-level by plunging 150.60 points or 1.32 percent.



Major losers were TCS, Kotak Bank, Adani Ports, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, Bharti Airtel, ITC, Tata Motors, Heromoto Corp, Powergrid and Tata Steel, falling by upto 3.46 percent.


Continuing its slide, the rupee Tuesday hit yet another record low of 72.73 against the US dollar, falling 28 paise in late afternoon trade on strengthening American currency as crude oil prices went past the USD 78 a barrel mark.


There were no signs of change in trading preference of foreign portfolio investors who sold shares worth a net of Rs 841.68 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also offloaded equities worth a net of Rs 289.66 crore Monday, according to provision data.


Investor wealth eroded by Rs 1.96 lakh crore yesterday following slump in the equity market where the BSE benchmark index tanked more than 1 percent. Following slide in stocks, the market valuation of BSE- listed companies plunged Rs 1,96,130.84 crore to Rs 1,55,43,657 crore at close of trade Monday.