Domestic stock markets ended in losses for the second consecutive session on Tuesday amid a cautious sentiment ahead of expiry of contracts in the futures and options (F&O) segment for the month of November.
While the BSE S&P Sensex fell 43 points to end at 25,775 points, the 50-share Nifty closed at 7,831, down 17 points.
Investors also remain in wait-and-see mode ahead of the winter session of Parliament, which is scheduled to start this week and chances of the passage of key economic reforms in the session do not appear bright.
In the monsoon session of Parliament, the Modi government was forced to delay the landmark Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill, after facing strong opposition in the Rajya Sabha, where it does not have a majority.
Doubts over the passage of the key tax bill in the upcoming session have arisen in the wake of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led alliance's defeat in the recently-concluded assembly elections in Bihar that has emboldened the opposition parties.
The Modi government has the required number of votes to pass the GST Bill in the Rajya Sabha, finance minister Arun Jaitley had said last week.
The benchmark indices also ended lower due to weakness in global markets. While China's Shanghai Composite index closed 1.2% lower and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 1.6%.
Among the BSE sectoral indices, Realty, Energy and Telecom were the top gainers, while Capital Goods, Auto and IT were the biggest losers.
"It was yet another day of minor losses for the Indian equity markets on Tuesday. Participants preferred to remain on the sidelines ahead of the mid-week holiday on Wednesday and F&O expiry on Thursday. The market was quite choppy throughout the day and was unable to carry the momentum on either direction," said Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL.
"The capital goods, IT and auto stocks were among the major laggards. On the other hand, realty, energy, telecom and the oil & gas stocks were among the major gainers. The mid-cap and the small-cap stocks continued to remain in demand," he added.
Markets will remain closed on Wednesday on account of Guru Nanak Jayanti.
On the commodity front, gold prices rebounded by Rs 90 to end at Rs 25,740 per 10 grams, while silver prices rose sharply by Rs 350 to close at Rs 34,150 per kg.
