The benchmark indices hit fresh lifetime highs on Wednesday only to come crashing down on intense profit booking by investors.

While the Sensex tanked 930.88 points, or 1 per cent, to 70506.31 points, the Nifty tumbled 302.95 points, or 1.41 per cent, to 21150.15 at the close.

After rising 475.88 points to its all-time high of 71913.07 points, the 30-share Sensex collapsed almost 1135 points to touch an intra-day low of 70302.60 in a correction that began in the second half of trading.

The Nifty also took a tumble after rising 139.9 points to touch an all-time high of 21593.

Market circles said investors sold heavily as they decided to cash in on their gains from the recent record rallies in stocks.

The markets also turned cautious because of a resurgence in Covid cases in some states.

Besides, an active IPO market which dished out strong listing gains has stopped the gush of funds into the secondary market.

It is felt that stocks are likely to consolidate around the current levels at least till the second week of next month after which the focus will shift to corporate India’s earnings.

“Domestic equities are witnessing a sell-off after a sharp run-up of more than 12 per cent in the last seven weeks.

“We expect the market to consolidate in the near term as investors resort to profit booking and assess the potential risk of rising Covid cases especially in Kerala and Karnataka, making them cautious in the market,’’ Siddhartha Khemka, head — retail research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said.

He said stocks were likely to recover after a pause supported by global factors along with the peaking of interest rates and a healthy domestic economy.

All the 30 Sensex stocks barring HDFC Bank closed in the red.

Tata Steel fell the most by 4.21 per cent, followed by NTPC, Tata Motors, HCL Technologies, Mahindra & Mahindra, State Bank of India, PowerGrid, Tech Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro and JSW Steel, up to 3.79 per cent.

Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, said the sharp and abrupt correction which was seen in the second half came despite a positive trend in the global markets.

“This is attributable to profit-booking from the recent sharp rally stretching valuations of mid-cap and small-cap stocks. The recent uptick
in crude prices prompted investors to book profits,” he added.

All the indices ended lower, with utilities cracking 4.65 per cent, telecommunication 4.36 per cent and power declining 4.33 per cent.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap index fell 3.42 per cent and the midcap gauge, 3.12 per cent.