The Sensex and the Nifty fell about 0.2 per cent at the closing session on Friday owing to lack of cues from the global market.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex was down 41.91 points (0.2 per cent) at 20,683.52 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 19.45 points (0.32 per cent) at 6,144.90.
On the BSE, realty, capital goods, metal and auto stocks succumbed to heavy selling pressure and were down 2.27 per cent, 1.61 per cent, 1.22 per cent and 1.19 per cent, respectively.
On the other hand, IT, TECk and consumer durables stocks remained investors' favourite and were up 1.54 per cent, 0.98 per cent and 0.25 per cent, respectively.
TCS, Wipro, SSLT, NTPC and Infosys were the top five Sensex gainers, while the top five losers were Hindalco, Tata Steel, M&M, HUL and GAIL.
European and Asian stocks were down as investors were disappointed with corporate earnings.
Investors expect that the Federal Reserve in its policy meeting on October 29-30 will delay its plan to trim its $85-billion-a-month bond-buying programme.
Though the weekly US jobs data showed that the number of jobless claim fell during the week ended October 19, the numbers were lower than expected by the market.
Also, the market is of the view that US growth has been affected by the shutdown earlier this month and this could further delay any plans to cut the $85-billion-a-month programme to boost the economy.