Equity indices fall sharply in late trading, banking stocks suffer

Equity benchmark indices were on a downward slide during the second half of Tuesday's trading session, eroding most of the morning gains in banking and financial stocks.

At the closing bell, the BSE SandP Sensex was down by 414 points or 1.2 per cent at 33,957 while the Nifty 50 edged lower by 121 points or 1.19 per cent at 10,047.

All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in a sea of red except for Nifty pharma which gained by 1.8 per cent.