With Sensex slide continuing, is this a turning point for markets?

Sensex and Nifty closed at a decline on Thursday after the second straight day of fall on the stock market.

The benchmark market indices continued to decline on Thursday, with the BSE Sensex closing at 71,186 points and NSE Nifty closing at 21,465 points at 3:30 pm close.

Sensex and Nifty's downfall continues on day 2 of stock market bloodbath. (REUTERS)

This is the second straight day of decline for the markets, which was triggered by the steep fall in Nifty Bank on Wednesday.

The index had touched an all-time high on January 16, crossing 22,000 points.

On Wednesday, Sensex had dropped by 1,600 points while Nifty declined by 430 points.

HDFC Bank's ripple effect

Nifty50 has taken a major hit because of the HDFC Bank quarterly report, falling more than 430 points.

Analysts, however, have predicted that the upcoming Lok Sabha elections can boost up the markets by 8-10 percent over the first quarter of the new fiscal year.