Ahead of the October derivatives expiry, the Nifty closed down 0.5% at 11,670.8 and the Sensex ended 0.43% lower at 39,749.85.

Larsen and Toubro (L&T) fell as much as 5.78%, dragging down the Nifty infrastructure index as much as 1.27%, after the industrial conglomerate reported a quarterly loss from continuing operations on a standalone basis on Wednesday.

India's biggest carmaker by market share Maruti Suzuki shed as much as 2.8% after the company's profit missed estimates, though car sales rose during the quarter. The stock marked its sharpest intraday drop since Sept. 24.

The domestic market was also pressured by concerns over the global economic recovery as Germany and France imposed new restrictions to contain a second wave of virus infections.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slumped 0.6% overnight, while European shares struggled to stabilize

"Sentiment across the globe is a little fearful because there are concerns that things can go berserk because of the virus," said Deepak Shenoy, founder and chief executive officer, Capitalmind in Bengaluru.

India's coronavirus cases crossed a grim milestone of 8 million as of Thursday morning, health ministry data showed.

The Nifty financials index closed 0.7% lower and the Nifty consumer goods index declined 0.96%.

Watchmaker Titan Co slid 2.6% after the company reported a drop in quarterly profit on Wednesday.

Asian Paints rose 2.9%, topping gainers in the Nifty. Tech Mahindra rose 2.2%.

Telecom company Vodafone Idea is among the companies reporting earnings later in the day.

(Reporting by Derek Francis in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

By Derek Francis