Mumbai, June 29 (IANS): Caution prevailed in the Indian equity markets on Monday as investors were anxious about the Greek crisis, a day ahead of a crucial deadline for the Mediterranean country to repay part of its debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

With no hope of a settlement in sight, investor sentiment was affected and resulted in panic at a benchmark index of Indian equities market, the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

The initial plunge of about 602.65 points earlier in the day was, however, mitigated and the barometer index recovered, but still traded deep in the red during the late-afternoon session.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell by 193.68 points or 0.70 percent and was trading at 27,618.16 points during the late-afternoon trade session.

The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was also trading in the red. It fell by 64.60 points or 0.77 percent at 8,316.50 points.

The 30-scrip S&P BSE Sensex, which opened at 27,451.07 points, was trading at 27,618.16 points (at 2.30 p.m.), down 193.68 points or 0.70 percent from its previous day's close at 27,811.84 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 27,662.84 points and a low of 27,209.19 points so far in the trade.

According to Angel Broking, Indian markets opened in the red tracking the SGX Nifty and global cues.

"The Greece issue has caused the downfall and the subdued sentiments globally. As there is no clarity on the whether the creditors will give more time or the earlier debt payment deadline of June 30 remains," Dipen Shah, head of the private client group research, Kotak Securities, elaborated to IANS.

The Greek government has called for a referendum to let the people decide on the terms and conditions of another bailout.

However, the July 5 referendum will come after the June 30 deadline, when Greece has to repay part of its debt to the IMF.

On June 4, Greece had deferred a payment of 300 million euro that was due to the IMF.

The Greek banking system is expected to collapse, if a default takes place, leaving the country at the mercy of the European Central Bank's emergency funding.

"Apart from the Greece issue, we have had the double taxation avoidance treaty (DTA) talks with Mauritius," Anand James, co-technical head for research with Geojit BNP Paribas.

"Other triggers were the subdued Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets because of the increase in terror activity in the region and the general anxiety related to the monsoon's performance during July, when it is predicted to weaken," James said.

During Monday's intra-day trade so far, a majority of sector-based indices of the S&P BSE were in the red.

Heavy selling pressure was seen in automobile, information technology (IT), healthcare, bank, consumer durables, capital goods, technology, entertainment and media (TECK), metal, oil and gas and realty sectors.

The S&P BSE automobile index plunged by 259.36 points, followed by the IT index which plummet by 224.95 points, healthcare index crashed by 221.94 points, bank index receded by 176.91 points and consumer durables fell by 158.62 points.

The S&P BSE capital goods index declined by 115.78 points, TECK index decreased by 103.38 points, metal index edged-lower by 102.66 points, oil and gas index fell by 68.17 points and realty index was down by 27.64 points.

However, the S&P BSE fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) index was up by 20.43 points.