The benchmark indices, which opened in the red, extended their losses in early session on Wednesday.

Sensex fell 277 points or 0.72 per cent lower to 38,087. Nifty also dropped 0.71 per cent or 79 points lower to 11,237.

The majority of the stocks in the 30-share benchmark were in the red, led by ONGC (down 4 per cent), SBI (down 3.55 per cent), ICICI Bank (2.38 per cent), Axis Bank(2.12 per cent) and ITC (down 2.05 per cent).

Asian Paints, Nestle India, TCS, Titan, Reliance and Infosys were in the green, with gains capped below 1 per cent.

A PTI report said the Sensex dropped, tracking losses in index-heavyweights HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and ITC amid an intense sell-off in global markets.

In the previous session, Sensex ended 51.88 points or 0.14 per cent lower at 38,365.35; while the NSE Nifty slipped 37.70 points or 0.33 per cent to 11,317.35.

Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 1,056.52 crore on a net basis on Tuesday.

Domestic equities opened on a negative note tracking weak cues from global equities after late-stage studies of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate were put on temporary hold, traders said.

The company is in the process of investigating whether a recipient’s “potentially unexplained” illness is a side effect of the shot.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were trading with intense losses in mid-session deals.

Stock exchanges on Wall Street witnessed massive selloff in overnight sessions.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.90 per cent lower at $39.42 per barrel. (with inputs from PTI)