Indian share markets continued to plunge in today’s trade amid sell-off in the global market. Both Nifty and Sensex fell nearly 3.5%, their biggest fall since August 2015. Indian markets are already under pressure after the government presented a budget that focused on populist measures ahead of general elections in 2019 and imposed a long-term capital gains tax on equities.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex closed lower by 561 points and the NSE Nifty finished lower by 168 points. The S&P BSE Mid Cap finished down by 1.7% while S&P BSE Small Cap finished down by 2.2%.

Losses were largely seen in consumer durables stocks, software stocks and pharma stocks.

Asian stock markets closed sharply lower following massive losses in Wall Street with shares in Hong Kong leading the region. The Hang Seng is down 5.02% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 is off 4.73% and China’s Shanghai Composite is lower by 3.35%. European markets too are lower today with shares in Germany off the most. The DAX is down 1.84% while London’s FTSE 100 is off 1.58% and France’s CAC 40 is lower by 1.45%.

The Dow Jones industrial average plunged by 1,175 points yesterday, its largest single-day points drop in history.

In the biggest global sell-off since 2016, financial markets from Asia to Europe to the United States were rocked primarily by concerns about inflation. The Dow was off a heart-stopping 1,600 points during afternoon trading, the largest intraday point decline in the blue-chip index’s history.

The Dow’s dive erased gains for the year so far and extended a multi-day slump that saw the Dow drop by some 600 point.

While market fear may not be based in any change in economic fundamentals, in its last meeting under chair Yellen, the Federal Reserve indicated it expects inflation pressures to increase through the year.

According to projections released in December, officials expect three rate hikes in 2018 – so long as market conditions remain broadly as they are – but some economists believe the central bank could add another increase at its final meeting of the year.