The 30-share Sensex ended down 99 points or 0.6% at 16,219 and the 50-share Nifty ended down 26 points or 0.5% at 4,924.
The Sensex had touched a intra-day low of 16,086 and the Nifty touched 4,884 post the annoucement of the fourth quarter GDP numbers.
In May 2012, the Sensex was down 6.4% and the Nifty was down 6.2% recording its second worst monthly performance after May 2006 when both the Sensex and the Nifty plunged 13.7% each.
India's gross domestic product growth in the January-March quarter plunged to a nine-year low of 5.3%, against a consensus of just over 6%, due to contraction in the manufacturing sector.
GDP growth for the corresponding quarter last fiscal (Jan-Mar 2011) was 9.2% and 6.1% in the previous quarter (Oct-Dec 2011). GDP growth for 2011-12 stood at 6.5%.
"We weren't expecting such a fall in the Q4 GDP numbers.
"Though weakness in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors was expected, it's the fall in the services sector that has caught us off guard.
"This drop is a huge concern for us.", Upasna Bhardwaj, Economist, ING Vysya Bank told Business Standard.
Among the sectoral indices on the BSE, the Auto index was down 2% and the Bankex ended 0.9% down.
Among Sensex stocks Tata Motors ended down 2% at Rs 233 on account of lower than expected EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) margin at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) of 14.6% against analyst estimate of around 16.5% during the quarter ended March 2012. The consolidated EBITDA margin has improved by only 30bps at 14.1% on year-on-year
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