Mumbai: The Sensex went into a tailspin after opening with a wide downward gap of 57 points and ended with a huge 213-point fall, the biggest since March 2001, on across-the-board sell-off fuelled by the exit polls adverse projections for the BJP-led NDA in second phase of elections.

The BSE Benchmark 30-share index crashed like a pack of cards after opening weak at 5868.33 and later witnessed narrow movements in a range of about 60 points before ending at 5712.28 as against last Friday's close of 5925.58, a net loss of 213.30 points or 3.60 per cent.

This is the biggest one-day drop since March 13, 2001 when the market had fallen by over 227 points.

The market also has created a record of sorts by opening with the largest downward gap of 57 points in the last 19-1/2 months. The BSE barometer had resumed with a wide gap of 120 points on September 12, 2001 a day after the 9/11 terrorists' strike on the twin towers of World Trade Centre of the US.

Operators and public investors were heavy sellers right from the beginning of the session as they attempted to unwind positions in reaction to the prediction of a hung house and projection of a depleted strength for the BJP-led NDA by the exit polls by TV channels after the second phase of elections.

Selling pressure later intensified after mid-session as Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) joined the bandwagon targeting old economy stocks besides bank shares which were at the receiving end because of RBI cap on dividend payout.

Only three out of 30 index-based scrips managed to close in positive territory. Cipla, HDFC Bank and Ranbaxy Lab ended with moderate gains on some buying support.