Indian equity benchmarks fell sharply on Friday after a continuous rally, with the Sensex and Nifty losing over 1% each amid profit-taking and weak global market trends.

The Sensex had started the trade on a positive note, later pared away all the early gains, and settled 651.85 points or 1.08% lower at 59,646.15. During the day, it plunged 823.43 points or 1.36% to 59,474.57.

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The Nifty tumbled 198.05 points or 1.10% to close at 17,758.45.

The broader indices ended in red with the BSE Midcap index down by 1.27% and the Small-cap index down by 0.93%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.53%, Utilities up by 0.45%, Capital Goods up by 0.32%, and TECK up by 0.14%, while Realty down by 2.14%, Metal down by 1.84%, PSU down by 1.67%, Energy down by 1.64% and Oil & Gas down by 1.62% were the top losing indices on BSE.

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Top losers from the Sensex pack were IndusInd Bank down by 3.82%, Bajaj Finserv down by 3.08%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.53%, Tata Steel down by 2.27%, SBI down by 2.25%, NTPC down by 1.84%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.81%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.79%, Reliance Industries down by 1.77% and Mahindra down by 1.75%.

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Among the gainers were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.20%, Infosys up by 0.93%, and TCS up by 0.12%.

The rupee slipped 20 paise to close at 79.84 against the US dollar amid a strengthening greenback overseas.

In Asia, markets in Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo closed lower, while Hong Kong ended the green.

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European stock markets were trading mostly lower during mid-session deals. US markets had ended higher on Thursday.

“Profit-booking amid weak global cues impacted domestic indices as concerns about interest rate hikes hung over the markets. Additionally, the recent rally of the dollar index and FIIs turning net sellers has surprised bulls. Broad-based selling was witnessed with the index heavyweights dragging the index further down,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

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Brent crude, the international oil benchmark was trading 1.38% lower at $95.25 per barrel.

According to stock exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net sellers after many days, offloading shares worth Rs 1,706 crore on Thursday.