Mumbai, March 3
It was black Monday once again for stock markets as benchmark Sensex melted to record its second biggest fall of over 900 points in BSE history and closed below 17k level as the already dim global situation gave further signs of worst feared recession in US.

The markets had similarly plummeted on January 21 and 22 as well as on February 11 this year on fears of a possible recession in US, the world's largest economy, owing to the credit crisis in US which is still lingering on.

The sub-prime crisis in US had shaved off more than 2,000 points from the BSE barometer on two days on January 21 and 22, leading to a massive erosion of over Rs 6 trillion in investors' wealth.

The Bombay Stock Exchange 30-share Sensex today settled the day at a two-week low of 16,677.88, a fall of 900.84 points, or 5.12 per cent, from its last close.

The National Stock Exchange's S&P CNX Nifty dived by 270.50 points or 5.18 per cent to close at 4,953 from its previous close of 5,223.50.

Stocks melted in the first trading day after the presentation of Union Budget, which has proposed to hike the rate of short-term capital gain tax and massive Rs 60,000- crore relief package for farmers.

The fall incidentally coincides with finance minister P Chidambaram's defence for Rs 60,000-crore farm bonanza while showing concerns over rising food prices, which he said, has become an inflation threat.

Brokers said a hike in in the short-term capital gains tax and a proposal to waive farm loans were the bone of contention among the market fraternity.

Marketmen said the bourses took a cue from global slide, largely due to increasingly weak US economic data that fuelled fears of the US recession.

Besides, US dollar touched record lows against its major rivals, strengthening fears of a slowdown and possibility of a rate cut by Federal Reserve.

Asian indices tumbled by about 2.0 to 4.5 per cent and European markets traded lower by 1.5 per cent this afternoon following a sharp fall of about 2.5 per cent in Wall Street last weekend.

Heavyweight stocks such as SBI fell by 8.83 per cent, HDFC by 8.25 per cent, BHEL by 8.0 per cent, RIL by 6.24 per cent, ICICI Bank by 6.10 per cent, REL by 5.24 per cent, L&T by 5.09 per cent, ITC by 4.53 per cent, Infosys by 4.84 per cent, HDFC Bank by 4.33 per cent and Grasim by 3.79 per cent.

However, Ranbaxy Lab, Cipla, Maruti Suzuki and Hindustan Unilever bucked the trend and ended with moderate gains. — PTI