Mumbai, March 12 (TIWN) With a sell-off across segments, Indian stock markets formally moved into the bear zone and the BSE Sensex registered its biggest single-day fall of over 2,900 points.

The Sensex closed at 32,778.14, lower by 2,919.26 or 8.18 per cent from its previous close of 35,697.40. It had opened at day’s high of 34,472.50 and fell 3,200 points to touch an intra-day low of 32,493.10.

A bear market is a condition when a security price falls 20 per cent or more from its recent high. Sensex is down nearly 22 per cent from its recent high of 42,273.87 hit in January, and the Nifty is also down 22 per cent from the all-time high of 12,430.50.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed 868.25 points or 8.30 per cent lower at 9,590.15.

Rahul Sharma, Business Head at Equity99 said that all traders and investors should stay away from the market till it gets stable.