Sensex at 700 points; Nifty at 16,958 in closing bell

S&P BSE fell 703.59 points or 1.23% to settle at 56,463 while the NSE Nifty 50 index closed 215.00 points or 1.25% to conclude at 16,958.65 after rising to 0.5% each in the early trade.

Coal India with a rise of 4.4% upon its shares was the top Sensex gainers, followed by Reliance Industries with 3.8 %.

HDFC Bank faced  losses & settled down to 3.8 per cent.