Mumbai, Oct 7 (Inditop.com) A key Indian equities index took a sharp dive in the last minutes of trade and ended Wednesday almost a percent down.

The 30-scrip benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange, Sensex, which opened at 17,069.42 points, shut shop at 16,788.67 points (provisional), down 169.87 points or 1 percent from Tuesday’s closing figure of 16,958.54 points.

The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too ended in the negative terrain at 4,928 points, down 0.9 percent.

Broader market indices too gained, with the BSE midcap index moving up 1.36 percent and the BSE smallcap index closing 0.34 percent up.