The Sensex, which showed some signs of a recovery around noon, has slipped further into the negative zone on the back of continued selling action witnessed in several large, medium and small cap stocks.
Realty, metal, capital goods and power stocks plunged the most.
Mirroring the sell-off, several stocks from banking, IT and auto segments also fell sharply.
Select pharma, oil and consumer durables stocks hold on in the positive territory remained quite subdued.