Banks led by private heavyweights ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank dragged the Nifty the most. Nifty Bank was down 1.7% with all 12 stocks ending in the red. In terms of highest fall, Bandhan Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of Baroda fell between 7.68% and 3.45%.

Indian headline indices fell sharply on Monday riding on a host of triggers, including continued weakness in the banking and financial stocks along with a rout in mid and smallcaps. A rush for profit-taking and mixed trends in global markets were among other prominent factors.

The 30-stock S&P BSE sensex plunged 670 points to the day’s low of 70,922.57 while the Nifty50 tanked by over 200 points. Sensex finally ended at 71,072.49, down by 523 points or 0.73% while nifty was down by 166.45 points or 0.76% at 21,616.05.