Hitting new lows post 1300 hrs, Indian bourses were still under strong pressure owing to heavy selling action in rate-sensitive segment.

The Sensex dropped 321 points to 18,677, whereas the Nifty declined 96 points to trade at 5,606.

Rate-sensitive scrips remained under heavy pressure after the central bank announced a 50 basis point increase in repo, reverse repo.

On the Sensex, the losers' list comprised Mahindra & Mahindra, JP Associates and Tata Motors, State Bank of India, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel.

Sensex constituents remained in positive zone included Sterlite Ind, Infosys and BHEL.

Among sectoral indices, the Bankex plunged 3%, the Auto dropped 3%, and the real estate index dropped 2% at 2,163.

With 724 advancements as against 1,938 declinations, the overall market breadth was extremely negative.