The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index ended 0.41% lower at 16,983.20 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.34% to 57,064.87. Both indexes hit their first monthly drop in seven, falling more than 3%.
Economists have projected GDP data, due at 1200 GMT, will show an 8.4% year-on-year growth in the July-September period, according to a Reuters poll last week, the fastest pace among major economies, vs a 7.5% contraction in the same quarter last year.
However, domestic markets were weighed down by volatility in the global markets after the chief executive of U.S. drugmaker Moderna warned COVID-19 vaccines are unlikely to be as effective against the variant.
The warning triggered a fall in world share markets and a scramble to safer currencies and bonds on Tuesday. [MKTS/GLOB]
"There aren't many India-specific factors of concern, but the new variant is making markets follow global trends," said Anita Gandhi, director, Arihant Capital Markets.
Most major sub-indexes were trading lower after opening up, with only the Nifty IT and pharma indexes bucking the wider trend, ending the session up 0.5% and 0.1% respectively.
Metals and auto stocks led the drag on the blue-chip index, falling 1.94% and 0.94% respectively.
Among individual stocks, Tata Steel Ltd and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the bottom performers.
"The optimism (of the market) was quickly substituted with a sudden sell-off in the domestic market as global equities slipped into negative territory following Omicron experts' advice to be cautious," Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, said in a note.
India's economic data is expected to show recovery strengthened in the July-September quarter helped by a pick-up in consumer spending.
(Reporting by Vishwadha Chander in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Shailesh Kuber)
By Vishwadha Chander
