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Indian equity benchmarks closed lower on Friday amid broad-based selling, led by metal and IT stocks.

The BSE Sensex fell 296.59 points to close at 82,269.78. The Nifty 50 declined 98.25 points to end at the 25,320.65 level.

On the Sensex, gains were seen in Mahindra & Mahindra, State Bank of India, ITC, Bharat Electronics, Titan and Hindustan Unilever. Losses were led by Tata Steel, Power Grid, ICICI Bank, HCL Technologies and Infosys. Tata Steel dropped nearly 5 per cent, weighing on the index.

Sector-wise, Nifty Metal slipped 5.21 per cent, and Nifty IT declined 1.03 per cent. Nifty Bank eased 0.58 per cent, while Nifty Financial Services fell 0.65 per cent. FMCG, media, pharma, realty and healthcare indices closed higher. Nifty FMCG rose 1.37 per cent, and Nifty Media gained 1.85 per cent.

In the broader market, Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices ended mixed, while Nifty Microcap advanced 1.81 per cent. Market sentiment remained cautious amid weakness in select heavyweight stocks and sector-specific pressure.

Meanwhile, US stock futures were trading sharply lower, while Indian markets showed signs of recovery in late trade, market expert Anil Singhvi said on Thursday.

He said Nasdaq futures were down around 250 points, while Dow futures were lower by nearly 350 points. European markets were trading higher by about 0.25 to 0.50 per cent, which he described as “surprising” amid weakness in the US.

Singhvi said crude oil prices were under pressure, while the rupee was trading near its lifetime low. The rupee was seen around 91.94 against the US dollar, with a marginal gain of two paise, he said.

Explaining the fall in US futures, Singhvi said markets were focused on the likely announcement of the new US Federal Reserve Chair.

“Two parallel discussions are going on in the US,” he said. “One view is that the new Fed Chair could be more inclined towards cutting interest rates, which would weaken the dollar and support equities, commodities and currencies.”

However, he said there was another view in the market. “The second discussion is that the new Fed Chair may focus more on strengthening the dollar rather than cutting rates,” he said. He added that balancing lower interest rates with a stronger dollar would be difficult.

Turning to Indian markets, Singhvi said domestic indices managed to recover despite global weakness. He said Nifty rebounded in the last hour and moved towards the 25,350–25,450 range. The index touched an intraday high near 25,370, he said.

However, Singhvi said closing above the 25,300 level on Nifty could be challenging. He said heavy call writing was seen at the 25,300 strike, with around 1.25 crore shares. Put open interest was also significant.

“The data suggests Nifty may try to close around the 25,250–25,300 range,” he said, adding that a close above 25,350 would be difficult without strong short covering.

On Bank Nifty, Singhvi said the upside appeared capped near the 60,000 level. He said heavy open interest on both the call and put sides could lead to profit booking. “As Bank Nifty approaches 60,000, profit booking is likely,” he said.

Singhvi said global cues would remain important, but domestic traders would gradually focus on local factors, including the upcoming Union Budget. He added that despite volatility, the overall market structure remained range-bound for the day.