Top percentage laggards on the 50-scrip benchmark index were Yes Bank, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Eicher Motors, Grasim Industries and Maruti Suzuki India, finishing with losses of between 5.05 per cent and 10.89 per cent.

HDFC, HDFC Bank and Infosys were the top drags on Sensex.

Marked breadth was highly negative with an advance decline ratio of 1:2, with 867 stocks on the BSE ending higher and 1,647 finishing lower. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 550 stocks advanced while 1,228 declined.

The fall in domestic markets was in line with declines in broader Asia, as fears about a drawn out US-China trade war, protests in Hong Kong and a crash in Argentina's peso currency drove investors to safe harbours.

Analysts say auto industry data refuelled concerns about economic slowdown.

Domestic passenger vehicles sales in India plunged 30.98 per cent to 2,00,790 units last month, data from industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed. The drop in sales is the worst since December 2000, when the industry sold a fifth of the vehicles it sells currently.

Reliance Industries shares, on the other hand, ended 9.72 per cent higher at Rs 1275.00 apiece on the BSE, a day after the conglomerate said it has a clear roadmap to become zero net-debt company in 18 months.

Reliance Industries shares were the top percentage gainer on the Sensex.

The government will release consumer inflation data for the month of July later in the day. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) tracks consumer inflation data primarily while formulating the monetary policy.