Sensex falls 287 pts, SBI plunges 4%

Indian stocks fell sharply on Tuesday amid a selloff across the globe over debt woes in Europe. The Sensex ended at 15,864.86, down 287 points, after trading between 16,202.38 and 15,745.43 in Tuesday's session.

Adding to the woes of the Indian markets was a downgrade of India's largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), by credit rating agency Moody's, over the bank's ability to manage capital in the likelihood of rising non-performing assets.

SBI fell 4 per cent while another major bank ICICI Bank plunged 4.6 per cent. Among other major losers, Coal India fell 5 per cent while RIL declined 2 per cent.

Asian stock markets extended a sell-off on Tuesday, following a dismal session on Wall Street that was sparked by the revelation that debt-strapped Greece would not be able to reach a target for reducing its budget deficit.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 1.6 per cent to 8,406.33. South Korea's Kospi index plunged 4.7 per cent, while Australia's S&P ASX 200 index fell 0.3 per cent to 3,887.30. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and New Zealand were also lower. European markets were also sharply lower on Tuesday in early trade.