The Nifty and the Sensex shed close to one per cent as the second quarter results from ONGC, SBI and Tata Motors belied street expectations.
The Nifty closed at 5,686, down 53 points while the Sensex closed at 18,684, down 163 points.
"No doubt, there will be periods of uncertainty and anguish and concerns. There may be correction in markets. The fiscal cliff in US is expected to be the first big test for global equities. EU chiefs will also have to keep on working hard to avoid catastrophes. And more importantly, the Indian policy makers will face a big test in the ensuing winter session. The last budget before 2014 elections will also be important,” said Dipen Shah, Head-PCG Research, Kotak Securities.
All the indices on the NSE and the BSE closed in the red. The advance decline ratio of the Nifty was 7:42 with one scrip closing flat.
Volatility was up one per cent and the volatility index India Vix closed at 14.37.
Cairn, Ultratech Cement, PowerGrid, Maruti and Grasim were the top five Nifty gainers while SBI, Tata Steel, ONGC, IDFC and Sesa Goa were the top losers.