The benchmark BSE Sensex plunged about 221 points to close at a one-week low of 29,706.61 as global markets were spooked after US launched air strikes against Syria, fuelling geopolitical concerns.
US President Donald Trump has ordered the strikes against a Syrian air base controlled by President Bashar al-Assad's forces in response to a deadly chemical attack in a rebel-held area, a US official said.
Facing his biggest foreign policy crisis since taking office in January, Trump took the toughest direct US action yet in Syria's six-year-old civil war.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex ended lower by 220.73 points or 0.74 per cent at 29,706.61 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 63.65 points or 0.69 per cent at 9,198.30.
However, the indexes gained around 0.3 percent for the week, marking their second consecutive weekly gain.
Among BSE sectoral indices, healthcare index fell the most by 1.43 per cent, metal 1.24 per cent, realty 1.19 per cent and banking 0.96 per cent. On the other hand, oil & gas index was up 0.48 per cent and capital goods 0.1 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were TCS (+1.14%), Bajaj Auto (+1.01%), Bharti Airtel (+0.83%), Hero MotoCorp (+0.58%) and NTPC (+0.27%), while the major losers were Sun Pharma (-3.04%), Lupin (-2.61%), Adani Ports (-2.37%), Reliance (-2.28%) and Dr Reddy's (-1.97%).
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.7 per cent in short order, and S&P 500 futures lost 0.5 per cent in an unusually sharp move for Asian hours. Japan's Nikkei was stripped of its early gains to slip 0.1 per cent.
Wall Street's major indexes had closed slightly higher on Thursday but finished well off session highs as investors were nervous about upcoming talks between China's President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 14.8 points, or 0.07 per cent, to close at 20,662.95, the S&P 500 gained 4.54 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 2,357.49 after reaching a session high of 2364.16 earlier in the day.
The Nasdaq Composite added 14.47 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 5,878.95.