Profit booking pushed the benchmark Sensex down by 50.57 to 21,143.01. Meanwhile Nifty fell by 22.70 points to 6,291.10 as real estate and information technology stocks came under heavy profit booking. Also, Reserve Bank of India's statement that any political instability after next year's general election would further hurt the economy, added more pressure to the market.
Rate sensitive stocks were down after Rajan said high inflation is limiting the central bank's ability to boost growth with an accommodative monetary policy.