At close, Sensex was down 300.17 points or 0.54% at 55329.32, and the Nifty down 118.30 points or 0.71% at 16450.50 after minutes released by the US Federal Reserve suggested tapering of the Fed's stimulus plan by late 2021. Besides, the rampant spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 and faltering global growth worried investors. Tata Steel was the worst Sensex performer, followed by the State Bank of India, Dr. Reddy’s Laboaratories, and Kotak Mahindra Bank. HUL was the top Sensex gainer, followed by Asian Paints, Nestle India, and Bajaj Finance. About 728 shares have advanced, 2407 shares declined, and 117 shares are unchanged. The Nifty Metal index cracked 6 percent while the FMCG index rose 2 percent. Bank Nifty fell 1.46%. The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices fell 2 percent each. India VIX soared 8.6% to closed at 14 levels.