New Delhi, Jan 19 (IANS): The Indian equity indices -- S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 -- settled sharply lower for the second consecutive session on Wednesday.

Till Monday, indices had been consistently trading on a positive note for over a week or so.

On Wednesday, the Sensex and Nifty settled at 60,098 points and 17,938 points, down 1.1 per cent or 656 points and 1.0 per cent or 174 points from their previous close, respectively.

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty IT tanked the most, NSE data showed.

"Globally, risk sentiments took a blow as rising inflation resulting in elevated bond yield along with the ongoing geopolitical tensions and surge in oil prices weighed on investor confidence," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"This, along with consistent FII selling, forced the domestic market to trade in favour of bears for the second consecutive day," he added.

On the stocks front, Infosys, Shree Cement, Asian Paints, Adani Ports, and Hindustan Unilever fell the most, declining 2.9 per cent, 2.8 per cent, 2.7 per cent, 2.5 per cent, and 2.4 per cent, respectively, exchange data showed.

ONGC, Tata Motors, UPL, Coal India, Maruti Suzuki India, on the other hand, were some of the top gainers during Wednesday's trade.