The Nifty plunged for the fifth straight day, as sentiments took a turn for the worse following elevated crude oil prices and adverse developments for the BJP in Karnataka.

Worries that regional parties along with Congress, may form a solid alliance for 2019, posing a serious danger for Narendra Modi's second term impacted sentiments. The Sensex ended the day with a loss of 236 points, while the Nifty dropped 80 points in trade.

Oil marketing companies raised petrol and diesel prices once again, taking petrol prices to a historic high in select cities like Mumbai. This impacted market sentiments, as investors worried that this could propel inflation even further and lead to interest rate hikes.

Among the top losers was Tata Motors, whose shares fell below the Rs 300 levels for the first time in two years. Even at lower levels the stock saw sustained selling pressure.

Shares in Jaiprakash Associates plunged as much as 20 per cent, after reports that the National Company Law Tribunal had asked the company to return back 750 acres to subsidiary to Jaypee Infratech.

The shares of Jaiprakash Associates ended the day at 14.20 on the NSE.

Shares in Alembic Pharma fell almost 5 per cent, after the US FDA issued form 483 to the company. "We would like to inform that the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) has conducted an inspection at Alembic Pharmaceuticals API Facility located at Karkhadi from 14th May, 2018 to 18th May, 2018. This was a scheduled inspection and at the end of the inspection, the US FDA issued a Form 483 with one observation," the company said in a release to the exchanges.

Meanwhile, markets across the globe were trading firm. In Asia, most markets ended the day with gains, including the likes of the Hong Kong's Hang Sang and the Japanese Nikkei.