Sectorally, the Nifty PSU Bank index was the top gainer, rising 4%; while Pharma & healthcare indices fell 2% each

Sensex, which was on its longest winning streak since 2007 by rallying non-stop for 11 sessions, has now lost over 1,600 points in just 3 days. This has made Dalal Street investors poorer by around Rs 5 lakh crore.

Bears ruled Wednesday's trade when stock markets opened after a 1-day holiday on account of Ganesh Chaturthi. The bloodbath wiped off over Rs 2 lakh crore of investor wealth on BSE, with four stocks falling for every third that rose.

At the close, Sensex fell 242 points, snapping its longest winning run in 16 years. While, Nifty slipped below 20,150.

From the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel was the biggest gainer rising 2.37%, followed by Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL Tech, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Wipro

From the Sensex pack, M&M, Tech Mahindra, and Tata Steel were the top gainers meanwhile ITC & Asian paints dropped the most

In stock- specific action, shares of retail coffee chain Coffee Day hit 20% uper circuit after an appellate tribunal quashed insolvency proceedings against its subsidiary Coffee Day Global, setting aside the NCLT order.

Broader markets underperformed as Midcap & smallcap indices fell up to 4%.Meanwhile sectorally, all indices except IT and pharma ended with cuts.

Shares of Nazara Technologies ended on a flat note after the company approved Rs 410 crore preferential issue of equity shares to SBI Mutual Fund.

Railway stocks were in news as IRFC, RVNL, and Ircon International fell up to 7% amid profit booking. Whereas, sugar stocks gained up to 5% riding on concerns over production in the wake of weak monsoon in the growing areas. Rana Sugar and Shree renuka sugar were the top gainers.