Equity markets tumbled on Wednesday after a sharp rebound in the previous trade, with the Sensex falling 496 points in early trade, tracking weak global trends.

Unabated foreign fund outflows and selling in index majors Infosys and Bajaj Finance also played spoilsport.

"The roller coaster ride in markets is set to continue in the near-term. With the 3.95 per cent sell-off yesterday (Tuesday), Nasdaq is now 23 per cent down from its record highs and, therefore, can be said to be in bear market territory.

"The real worry for markets now is a possible sharp global slowdown triggered by the coming aggressive monetary tightening in the US, severe Covid-related lockdowns in China and woes in the Euro Zone caused by the Ukraine war," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The 30-share BSE benchmark was trading 495.77 points lower at 56,860.84. The NSE Nifty dipped 144.15 points to 17,056.65.