PTI

Mumbai, Jan 21: The bloodbath on Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday saw the benchmark index falling 2033 points, to dip below the 17,000-point mark in pre-close trading.

The crash was caused by selling pressure fuelled by weak global cues. Almost all major market players remained net sellers, pushing most heavy-weight stocks to their recent lows.

At 2.30 p.m., the 30-share index was trading at 17352.85 points.

The National Stock Exchange index Nifty too dropped by 424.35 points at 5,280.95, as metal and realty stocks suffered the most.

Marketmen said weakness across global market in the last six trading sessions including on Monday has pulled down the market to levels last seen in October last year.

They said RBI governor Y V Reddy's statement that the central bank would continue to be sensitive to high crude and food prices prevailing globally, further fuelled selling.

Absence of overseas investors from the market due to rising concerns of inflation in the US, also remained a dampening factor, they added.