Market benchmark Nifty declined for the second consecutive session today following selling pressure in IT, PSU banks, auto, pharma, metals, energy, banks and infrastructure counters.
Investors are adopting cautious stance after the appointment of Urjit Patel as the next RBI chief, who is very unlikely to cut rates in view of high inflation.
Nifty futures and options contracts for August expires on Thursday, which added to the volatility, while the lack of near-term triggers is also likely to keep the market choppy.
Globally, European stocks edged higher albeit with caution ahead of the US Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole meeting later this week which could provide some hints about the timing of an interest rate hike.
Asian stocks witnessed a mixed trend amid uncertainty about US monetary policy outlook.
The Nifty lost 37.75 points or 0.44 per cent to close at 8,629.15 as per the provisional closing data.
The 50-share index lost 52.90 points or 0.61 per cent at the day's low of 8,614 in intra-day trade, its lowest level since August 17, 2016 and had rose 17.95 points or 0.2 per cent at the day's high of 8,684.85 in early trade.
It witnessed an intra-day movement of about 70.85 points.
On the sectoral front, IT fell by 1.25 per cent, followed by PSU Banks (1.12 per cent), auto (1.03 per cent), pharma (0.98 per cent), metal (0.80 per cent), energy (0.59 per cent), banks (0.43 per cent) and infra (0.37 per cent).
However, Nifty FMCG index was up 0.69 per cent.
Smallcap-100 and midcap-100 indices were down 0.15 and 0.67 per cent, respectively.
Notable index laggards were Grasim (2.81 per cent), TCS (2.10 per cent), Lupin (2.01 per cent), Aurobindo Pharma (1.95 per cent) and Ambuja Cement (1.86 per cent).
Gainers included HUL (2.13 per cent), BHEL (1.34 per cent), ITC (1.26 per cent), Zee (1.23 per cent) and Idea (0.96 per cent).
Turnover in cash segment fell to Rs 18,165.34 crore from Rs 20,316.60 crore last Friday.
A total of 8,981.23 lakh shares changed hands in 77,81,275 trades. The market capitalisation of NSE stood at Rs 107,39,416 crore.
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