Mumbai, May 6 (IANS): A key Indian equity market index crashed 722.77 points, or 2.63 percent, on Wednesday to dip to its lowest level since mid-December last year with the mood turning negative over factors such as lack of clarity on retrospective taxation and muted corporate results.

The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that had opened at 27,473.36 points closed at 26,717.37 points -- down 722.77 points, or 2.63 percent over Tuesday's close at 27,440.14 points.

The Sensex had touched high of 27,501.15 points and a low of 26,677.64 points during the day. The index thus moved in a wide band of nearly 825 points, though it was in the negative territory for the bulk of the trading session on Wednesday.

The index has lost 11 percent since the record closing high of 30,024.74 on March 4.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed in the negative territory -- 227.80 points or 2.74 percent down at 8,097 points. Both the indexes -- Sensex and the Nifty -- ended at their lowest levels since December 17, 2014.

"Key benchmark indices went into a tailspin, with both the Sensex and Nifty touching their lowest levels in this calendar year, on persistent selling by foreign funds amid continued concerns over retrospective taxation," said brokerage Sharekhan.

"The tax on subsidies and the geo-political tensions in the Middle-East also dampened sentiment. The benchmark indices after gaining nearly 30 percent in 2014 are trading in the negative this year even as other global peers have held the ground."

Foreign funds were net sellers of shares worth $91.59 million.

"As the worldwide sell-off in sovereign bonds deepened, key equity benchmark indices in India slumped," said HDFC Securities.

"The Sensex fell below the psychological 27,000-level. The monthly data, showing continuation of slowdown in the Indian service sector in April, a weakness in Asian stocks and increase in crude oil prices also hit investor sentiment adversely."

In Wednesday's trade, selling pressure was seen in capital goods, realty, power and banking. Out of the 12 sector-specific indices of the Mumbai bourse, those for capital goods index fell 4.24 percent, realty index by 4.04 percent, power by 3.67 percent and banking by 3.66 percent.

The 100-scrip and 200-scrip indices were also down by 2.87 percent and 2.91 percent, respectively. Mid-cap index ended lower by around 3.28 percent and small-cap stocks fell 3.12 percent.

All stocks that go into the Sensex -- except one scrip, Bharti Airtel -- ended in the red. At a broader level, of the 2,841 stocks that traded on the Mumbai bourse on Wednesday, 2,152 ended in the negative territory, and only 580 managed to stay afloat, while 109 remained unchanged.

Bharti Airtel closed trading up 0.80 percent at Rs.389.95.

The losers included: BHEL, down 6.21 percent at Rs.229.55; ICICI Bank, down 4.95 percent at Rs.312.10; L&T, down 4.68 percent at Rs.1564.65; Maruti, down 4.20 percent at Rs.3632.80; NTPC, down 4.09 percent at Rs.144.40; and Cipla, down 3.96 percent at Rs.636.25.

Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei went up by 0.06 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index went down by 1.57 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was lower by 0.41 percent.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was up by 0.29 percent, France's CAC 40 had gained by 0.64 percent, and Germany's DAX Index was higher by 0.91 percent at the closing in the Indian markets.