The benchmark BSE Sensex gave up all early gains and fell over 200 points in afternoon trade on Wednesday on widespread selling after Pakistani fighter jets violated Indian air space in Jammu and Kashmir.

After dropping 238 points, the Sensex was trading 161.74 points, or 0.46 per cent, down at 35,811.97 after hitting a low of 35,735.33. The gauge rallied nearly 400 points in morning trade. The 50-share Nifty also fell 62.55 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 10,772.75.

According to brokers, investor sentiment took a beating after Pakistan claimed that it shot down two Indian military aircraft over Pakistani air space and arrested one of the pilots. The Pakistani fighter jets on Wednesday violated Indian air space in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch and Nowshera sectors.

Major losers include Vedanta, Tata Motors, HDFC, Kotak Bank, Infosys, Tata Steel, Yes Bank, Maruti Suzuki and RIL, falling up to 2.56 per cent. Most of the BSE sectoral indices too turned negative.