Sensex, the 30-share index, which had lost nearly 1,415 points in the last five sessions, tumbled by 479.54 points to 13,051.73 after most of the heavy-weight stocks suffered sharp losses.
Similarly, the National Stock Exchange's index Nifty fell by 153.55 points to 3,919.35.
Stock brokers said meltdown in the global stock markets due to a series of events, including bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, sellout of Merrill Lynch, mainly dampened the trading sentiments.
They said depreciating rupee, which dipped to two-year low of 46.53 against the US dollar, was another dampening factor.
Major losers, which dragged the Sensex down were Reliance Industries, ONGC, Reliance Infra, RCom, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, BHEL, Larsen and Toubro, Tata Motors and Tata Power.
Meanwhile, Japanese, Hong Kong and South Korean stock markets fell between 5-6 percent in Tuesday morning trade.
DDNEWS
