The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex on Tuesday closed 26.87 points lower at 31,599.76, and the National Stock Exchange Nifty edged 1.10 points down to 9,871.50. The volatile trading was a result of the tensions in the Korean Peninsula, which had investors cautious.

On Monday, North Korea’s foreign minister had said that the United States had declared war on the country, and that Pyongyang reserved the right to take countermeasures.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC, Tata Steel, Lupin, Coal India and Sun Pharma. Hindustan Unilever, Dr Reddy’s, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints and Tata Consultancy Services TCS saw losses on the BSE index.

The metal and realty sub-indices were the top gainers in the afternoon session. The FMCG, IT, telecom and technology indices were the worst performers.

Vedanta, ONGC, Indiabulls Housing Finance and Tata Steel rallied on the Nifty. Bharat Petroleum, Bharti Infratel, Tata Power and Hindustan Unilever fared the worst.

The rupee fell by 18 paise to a six-month low of 65.28 against the dollar in early trade.

Asian shares also withered – Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended more than 67 points down, and the Taiwan TSEC 50 Index dropped 79 points. The Hong Kong Hang Seng fell 43 points, and the Shanghai SE Composite Index nearly six points.