Oil prices shot up by about 3 percent as the United States prepared to announce that all imports of Iranian oil must end or be subject to sanctions.
India and China are Iran's biggest oil customers, and have been lobbying for extensions to sanction waivers. India is also the world's third-biggest oil importer and any spike in prices puts pressure on the regional economy and markets.
The rupee weakened by 0.75 percent to 69.88 against the U.S. dollar.
"There is a high probability of crude going up to between 75 and 80 dollars a barrel, which will be negative for the Indian economy and markets as it puts pressure on the rupee as well," said Rusmik Oza, senior vice-president and head of fundamental research at Kotak Securities in Mumbai.
Oza also said Nifty earnings were likely to disappoint as non-banking results get reported. "Markets were also trading at new highs, so it might be coming back to reality, and that may be the reason we are seeing the correction," he added.
The broader NSE index was down 0.79 percent at 11,659.3 as of 0621 GMT, while the benchmark BSE index was 0.7 percent lower at 38,867.68.
Oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd was the biggest drag on the indexes, falling as much as 3 percent, after it reported a weak quarter for its refining and petrochemical business.
The stock saw its worst day in over four months.
A fall in financial stocks, mainly private banks, also had a negative impact on the main board. The Nifty private bank index fell 1.5 percent in its worst day since March 25.
ICICI Bank Ltd slipped 1.5 percent, while Axis Bank Ltd fell 1.9 percent.
Oil marketers took a hit from higher crude prices, and led the decline on the indexes in percentage terms.
Indian Oil Corp Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd fell between 4.2-6.5 percent.
Jet Airways Ltd, which suspended all operations last week, fell for a third straight session, plunging as much as 23.2 percent to an over decade low.
Shares of HDFC Bank Ltd rose about 1.4 percent to a three-week high after reporting a strong final quarter, but soon gave up gains to trade largely flat.