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The Sensex and Nifty fell nearly one per cent at the closing session, dragged down by financial stocks such as Axis Bank after the lender reported a quarterly profit slump, with weak global cues further weighing on the sentiment.
Domestic sentiment was also dampened as investors remained cautious ahead of October month F&O expiry on Thursday.
The broader NSE index closed 76.05 points or 0.88 per cent lower at 8,615.25 after falling 1.09 per cent earlier in the session.
The benchmark BSE index ended 254.91 points or 0.91 per cent down at 27,836.51 after slumping as much as 1.18 per cent earlier. Both the indexes recorded their biggest intra-day fall since October 13.
Among BSE sectoral indices, banking index fell the most by 1.89 per cent, metal 1.37 per cent, infrastructure 1.18 per cent and healthcare 1.12 per cent, while only consumer durables index was up 0.39 per cent.
Major Sensex losers were Axis Bank (-8.04%), Tata Motors (-4.27%), Tata Steel (-4.01%), ICICI Bank (-3.65%) and Adani Ports (-2.43%), while the top five gainers were Bharti Airtel (+2.25%), Hero MotoCorp (+1.92%), Maruti (+1.56%), Dr Reddy's (+1.34%) and HUL (+1.29%).
A report by SMC Global said: "Most Asian shares dropped and US equity index futures fell after Apple Inc, the world’s largest company, disappointed investors with its first annual sales decline since 2001. US stocks finished lower on Tuesday, giving back some of the previous day’s advance as worries about lacklustre spate of earnings and a slip in a reading of consumer confidence weighed on market sentiment. Consumer confidence in the US decreased by more than anticipated in the month of October, according to a report released by the Conference Board. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell to 98.6 in October after climbing to 103.5 in September. Economists had expected the index to drop to 101.0."
Global markets
European shares fell on Wednesday maintaining a gloomy trend set in Asia and the United States, and with concerns about a global glut of oil looming over the market.
Asian shares on Wednesday followed in the footsteps of Wall Street, which pulled back overnight on disappointing earnings, while the dollar inched down from a seven-month high and oil prices extended this week's losses.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slid 0.6 per cent.
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