The trends on Gift Nifty also indicate a gap-down start for the Indian benchmark index. The Gift Nifty was trading around 22,542 level, a discount of nearly 141 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close.

Indian stock markets continued their sharp decline in the afternoon session, with both Sensex and Nifty slipping nearly 1.9%. The Sensex tumbled over 1,400 points to 73,201, while the Nifty dropped 426 points to 22,119, extending the sell-off seen earlier in the day.

The Sensex and Nifty fell nearly 2 per cent, driven by widespread selling as concerns about a potential global trade war and a slowing US economy unsettled investors. The market saw a total loss of Rs 8.