BENGALURU: Indian shares hit a five-month low on Tuesday as the relentless selling continued for a fourth session over a US banking crisis that sparked a global selloff among lenders.

The Nifty 50 index closed down 0.65% at 17,043.30, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.6% to 57,900.19.

The Nifty 50 index has lost over 4% in four consecutive sessions as of Tuesday, taking losses to 5.9% thus far into the year. If the losses hold, this would be the worst quarter ending March 31 since 2020. The fallout from the collapse of US lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank widened despite government efforts to shore up confidence, hitting bank shares globally.

There are concerns over public sector banks managing their treasuries after what happened in the US, which has led to a selloff, said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice-president, research, at SMC Global Securities.

Meanwhile, assurances from US President Joe Biden and other policymakers did little to calm markets and prompted a rethink on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate outlook.