After moving to just a stone’s throw from a new milestone, the stock markets, on Monday, succumbed to fears of political crisis and shed 282 points in volatile trade, extending losses to the third straight day.

Initially, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) barometer Sensex hit an all-time intra-trade high of 17,982.59 on the back of strong global cues and expectations of fresh FII inflows. The Sensex later tumbled by 660.45 points from Monday’s high and touched a low of 17,322.14, before closing at 17.491.39, a net fall of 281.97 points or 1.59 per cent from Friday’s close of 17,773.36. Similarly, the broad-based S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) dipped by 100.75 points or 1.94 per cent to close at 5,085.10 from previous 5,185.85.

Investors heavily unloaded positions, reacting to differences between the Left parties and Congress after UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, on Sunday, defended Indo-US nuclear deal. The Left hit back, saying that India need not surrender its “Vital interests” to US and that Congress is going to an election mode.

The partial recovery from Monday’s low was attributed to short covering at lower levels by some operators. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) have been the heavy net buyers till now.