Indian markets fell steeply on Tuesday after United States crude oil prices turned negative for the first time in history because of the sharp decline in demand amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Equity benchmark BSE Sensex closed 1,011.29 points (3.20%) down at 30,636.71. The National Stock Exchange Nifty declined 280.4 points (3.03%) to finish at 8,981.45.

IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Tata Motors were the biggest losers on the Sensex. Bharti Airtel, Hero Motocorp and Nestle were the only gainers.

The stocks which rose the most on the Nifty were Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Bharti Infratel, Bharti Airtel, Hero Motocorp and Cipla. The biggest losers were IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Zee Entertainment and Hindalco.

The rupee was trading 30 paise down against the United States dollar at 76.83 at 4.24 pm, tracking weak domestic equities. The rupee had settled at 76.53 against the US dollar on Monday.

Other Asian markets too declined sharply on Tuesday. The Hong Kong Hang Seng fell 2.20%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 1.97%, Australia ASX All Ordinaries 2.51%, Taiwan TSEC 50 Index 2.82%, and the Shanghai SE Composite Index 0.90%.