India, Feb. 28 -- The stock market plunged into the red as the trading session began on Friday, with mid and small cap IT and telecom stocks, along with metal and auto stocks falling the most.

At 9:20 am IST, the benchmark BSE Sensex plummeted by 746.12 points or 1%, reaching 73,866.31. The broader NSE Nifty opened 221.15 points down or 0.98% in the red, reaching 22,323.90.

By 9:45 am, the Sensex fell even further by 972.33 points or 1.30%, reaching 73,640.10, while the Nifty fell 282.45 points or 1.25% into the red, reaching 22,262.60.

Among the 30 Sensex stocks, IndusInd Bank fell the most upon open by 4.07%, trading at Rs.1,003.75. This was followed by Mahindra & Mahindra, which fell 2.86%, trading at Rs.2,648.00, and NTPC, which wa...