Equity benchmarks continued their downward trajectory in Friday afternoon trading, with the Sensex falling 362.14 points or 0.47 per cent to 76,680.68 and the Nifty declining 85.95 points or 0.37 per cent to 23,225.85, primarily weighed down by technology and banking stocks.

IT major Infosys remained the top laggard, dropping 5.46 per cent following its recent quarterly results, while Axis Bank shed 4.83 per cent. The banking sector witnessed broad-based selling, with the Nifty Bank index falling 764.05 points or 1.55 per cent to 48,514.65. Other major banking stocks including Kotak Bank and Shriram Finance declined 2.74 per cent and 2.75 per cent respectively.

Market heavyweight Reliance Industries provided some support to the indices, gaining 2.88 per cent following its strong third-quarter performance. Other notable gainers included BPCL, advancing 2.85 per cent, followed by Nestle India and Tata Consumer Products, which rose 2.31 per cent and 2.18 per cent respectively.

The broader market showed mixed trends, with the Nifty Next 50 index gaining 0.59 per cent to reach 64,947.90, while the Nifty Midcap Select index traded marginally higher by 0.13 per cent at 12,234.20. The overall market breadth remained negative, with 2,017 stocks declining compared to 1,755 advances on the BSE.

Trading data showed 81 stocks reaching their 52-week highs, while 48 touched their 52-week lows. Circuit filters were triggered for 418 stocks, with 203 hitting the upper circuit and 215 touching the lower circuit limits.

The Nifty Financial Services index mirrored the banking sector’s weakness, declining 1.43 per cent to 22,616.35. Market participants are closely monitoring upcoming corporate results and economic data from China for further cues on market direction.

The market continues to trade with heightened volatility as foreign institutional investors maintain their selling stance, while global factors including commodity price movements continue to influence investor sentiment.