The week began on a negative note for the Indian markets with both benchmark indices tumbling to close in the red ahead of RBI's monetary policy review tomorrow.
The street is expecting a status quo stance from the Central Bank as it has already undertaken several liquidity tightening measures this past month to arrest the rupee fall.
The BSE Sensex closed at 19,593 down about 155 points or 0.78 per cent from its previous close and the NSE Nifty closed at 5,832 down about 55 points or 0.93 per cent from its previous close.
Alex Mathews, Head Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services said: "Nifty lost its key support at 5,850 (200 day simple moving average) as investors reduced open positions ahead of RBI’s policy meet tomorrow. FMCG and metal sector were the major losers for the day which closed down around 2.84 per cent and 1.88 per cent respectively."
Except IT, auto and tech all sectoral indices closed in red on the BSE led by FMCG sector which fell the most by 2.57 per cent.
Volatility was up with the India Vix index closing at 18.25 up 8.76 per cent from its previous close.
On the NSE, Jindal Steel, Tata Motors, Ultratech Cements, Grasim and Asian Paints were the top gainers while IDFC, JP Associates, Hindalco, Ambuja Cements and Sesagoa were the top losers.