Mumbai, May 9: Rising crude prices and ballooning inflation left the markets jittery for the fifth straight session: the sensex plummeted 343.58 points today to end the day at 16737.07, recording a 5 per cent fall from its last positive closing on May 2, and the 50-share Nifty slipped 99 points to 4982.60.

While inflationary pressure gave rise to concerns about another round of interest rate hike by the government, oil and gas stocks fell about 5 per cent on fears that soaring crude prices might soften demand.

“After the past few continuous sessions of rise last week, a correction through profit booking was due. Almost all global markets are trying to combat the uncontrollable rise in oil prices, which in turn gives rise to inflationary pressure. Technically, another 600-700 point correction can be expected of the sensex,” said Hitesh Agrawal, head of research of Angel Broking.

Although the rate of inflation rose marginally from its last level of 7.57 per cent, many investors were expecting commodity prices to soften after the government took a series of measures including duty cuts in cement, steel and iron-ore.

They also expected the latest ban on futures trading in various food commodities to have a positive impact.

The market breadth was extremely negative with 2,017 losers against 706 gainers on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The trading volume rose to Rs 6,594.69 crore from Rs 5,965.87 crore yesterday.