At the forex market, the rupee opened weak at 71.22 and slipped further to quote 17 paise down at 71.33 against the US dollar. Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, climbed to USD 65.04 per barrel by rising 0.63 per cent.

In morning session on Sensex, the laggards that dragged the key indices down were Bharti Airtel, Coal India, NTPC, Kotak Bank, HUL, Bajaj Finance, RIL, PowerGrid, HDFC Bank, Infosys, HCL Tech, Asian Paint, ONGC, TCS, SBI, M&M, HDFC, Tata Steel and IndusInd Bank, falling up to 2.48 per cent

The rupee opened weak at 70.91 and fell further to 71.05, but recovered partially to trade at 70.94

Total income stood at Rs 2,530.8 crore as against Rs 2,096.1 crore in the same quarter last year. Between October and December 2018, SpiceJet added 12 new planes -nine Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft and three Q400s.

The 30-share index cracked 424.61 points, or 1.15 per cent, to finish at 36,546.48, while the broader NSE Nifty slumped 125.80 points, or 1.14 per cent to 10,943.60. Sudden selling in metal and auto counters led to a sharp drop at the fag end of the session, traders said.

Rate-sensitive stocks swung between gains and losses after the rate-cut announcement, with BSE realty index slipping 0.02 per cent, Bankex gaining 0.04 per cent and auto index soaring 1.77 per cent.

The 30-share index was trading 161.53 points, or 0.44 per cent, higher at 37,136.76. Similarly, the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 33.05 points, or 0.30 per cent to 11,095.50.

Analysts said investor sentiment was bullish ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy meeting outcome, scheduled for Thursday.

In the Sensex pack, Hero MotoCorp, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Auto, Maruti and M&M were the top gainers, rising up to 2.66 per cent.