Sensex crashes 500 points, slips below 36,000; Nifty below 10,900

New Delhi: Stock markets swung deep into the red in the last hour of trading on Wednesday, with both BSE and NSE crashing over 1 percent.

The BSE Sensex slipped below the psychological 36,000 level and the NSE Nifty too came off the 10,900 mark in a volatile trading.

High crude oil prices, fears over a hike in key domestic lending rates and a weak rupee pulled the key equity indices in the red.

At 3.02 pm the BSE Sensex crashed 509.61 points or 1.40 percent at 36,016.53. In a similar fashion, the NSE Nifty fell  139.05 points or 1.26 percent at 10,869.25.

Heavy selling pressure was witnessed in auto, IT and TECK (technology, entertainment and media) stocks.

So far, Sensex has touched an intra-day high of 36,602.85 points and a low of 35,973.23.

On the currency front, Indian rupee breached 73 mark against the dollar for the first time ever in opening deals. It slipped further to -- 73.42 -- its lowest-ever mark -- against the greenback at the Inter-Bank Foreign Exchange Market.