TNI Bureau: The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 608.8 points to 56,498.72 in the early trade on Wednesday. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty declined 182 points to 16,825.40.

Among the 30-share Sensex pack, NTPC, IndusInd Bank, HDFC, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, ITC, HDFC Bank and Asian Paints were among the losers.

Sun Pharma, Mahindra & Mahindra, Dr Reddy’s and Power Grid were among the top gainers.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading sharply lower.

The US markets ended on a mixed note on Tuesday.

The 30-share BSE index had ended 37.70 points or 0.07 per cent lower at 57,107.52 on Tuesday. The Nifty shed 8.90 points or 0.05 per cent to 17,007.40.

Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.25 per cent to USD 85.19 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth Rs 2,823.96 crore on Tuesday, according to data available with BSE.