Mumbai, Feb. 28 -- A wave of panic swept through the domestic equity market on Friday, leading to steep declines in benchmark indices. The Nifty slumped almost 2% to close below 22,125, as persistent FII selling and weak global cues fueled a broad sell-off. All sectoral indices on the NSE closed lower, with IT and auto stocks registering significant losses. Investor sentiment was eroded by concerns stemming from the announcement of potential import levies by U.S. President Trump.

The S&P BSE Sensex tanked 1414.33 points or 1.90% to 73,198.10. The Nifty 50 index declined 420.35 points or 1.86% to 22,124.70.

Mahindra & Mahindra (down 5.21%), Infosys (down 4.32%) and TCS (down 3.56%) were major drags.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mi...