Indian shares fell sharply on Wednesday, with Fed rate cut uncertainty and ongoing selloff in the mid-cap and small-cap space keeping investors nervous.
U.S. core inflation came in higher than expected on Tuesday, denting hopes for an early rate cut by the Federal Reserve.
Investor sentiment was also hit after a SEBI warning about the froth that has built up around small, medium, and microcap valuations.
As a matter of caution, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company has suspended fresh subscriptions through lumpsum mode and switches into ICICI Prudential Smallcap Fund and ICICI Prudential Midcap Fund effective 14 March.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex hit an intraday low of 72,515.71 before recovering some lost ground to end the session down 906.07 points, or 1.23 percent, at 72,761.89.
The broader NSE Nifty index settled 338 points, or 1.51 percent, lower at 21,997.70, after having tumbled to 21,905.65 earlier.
The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indexes slumped 4.2 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively after SEBI chief\'s warning of \'froth\' in certain segments of the market.
Uday Kotak, Founder and Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, said he believes that there are enough checks and balances in place today to prevent any major issues and that we are nowhere near a bubble territory in the market.
Among the prominent losers, Adani Ports, NTPC, Adani Enterprises, Coal India and Power Grid Corp plunged 6-7 percent.