New Delhi, Aug. 26 -- A wave of sharp selling engulfed the Indian stock market on Tuesday, August 26, dragging the benchmarks and second-rung midcap and smallcap indices down by over a per cent each, while eroding investors' wealth by about Rs.6 lakh crore in a single day.

The Sensex closed at 80,786.54, falling 849 points, or 1.04 per cent, while the Nifty 50 ended with a loss of 256 points, or 1.02 per cent, at 24,712.05. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices plunged 1.34 per cent and 1.68 per cent, respectively.

Investors lost about Rs.6 lakh crore in a single session as the overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms dropped to nearly Rs.449 lakh crore from Rs.455 lakh crore on Monday.

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