Indian equity benchmarks plunged sharply, with the Sensex and Nifty registering steep declines amid aggressive selling in metal and information technology stocks. Heightened global uncertainty, concerns over slowing demand and persistent foreign institutional outflows weighed heavily on investor sentiment. Commodity-linked counters fell on weaker international price cues, while IT stocks retreated amid fears of reduced technology spending in key overseas markets. The selloff was broad-based, reflecting risk aversion across sectors.