"brent"

On the Sensex chart, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, PowerGrid and HDFC Bank emerged as major laggards -- dropping as much as 3 per cent.

On the Sensex chart, HDFC duo fell as much as 2.48 per cent, followed by Bajaj FinServ, Kotak Bank and Bajaj Finance – dropping up to 2.23 per cent.

The March contract of Brent on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) was at $54.70 a bbl, higher by 0.74 per cent from its previous close.