At close, the Sensex was down 1,545.67 points or 2.62% at 57,491.51, and the Nifty was down 468.10 points or 2.66% at 17,149.10. Panic selling due to the uncertainty around the quantum of a rate hike by the US Fed spooked the markets. Besides, geo-political tensions between Russia and Ukraine, the rising dollar index, and surging oil prices and bond yield added to the woes. Also, the run-up to the Union Budget 2022 has also induced choppiness in the markets. JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Grasim, Hindalco, Wipro, Tech M, Titan, and Tata Consumer Products were the major losers in the index pack. while gainers included Cipla and ONGC.The BSE MidCap index declined 3.8 percent while the BSE SmallCap index slipped 4.4 percent. All the indices ended with sharp losses, led by the Nifty Realty index down 6 percent, the Nifty Metal index down 5.2 percent, and the Nifty IT index down 3.4 percent.