Mumbai, Jan 24 (IANS): Indian stock markets remained volatile on Friday as selling pressure at higher levels weighed on benchmark indices.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex was at 76,190.46, down 329.92 points or 0.49 per cent, while the Nifty 50 slipped 113.15 points or 0.49 per cent to finish the day at 23,092.2.

The stock exchanges were positive at the opening bell as Nifty rose 0.31 per cent to 23,277, while the 30-stock Sensex advanced 0.31 per cent to 76,765. During early trade, out of the 12 sectors on the NSE, seven were advanced.

Both indices touched intraday highs of 76,985.95 and 23,347.30, respectively, before losing momentum.

Key stocks like M&M, Zomato, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma and L&T dragged the Sensex lower during the session.

The top losers on Nifty included Dr Reddy, Trent, Mahindra & Mahindra, and more.

In broader markets, the trend was negative. The Nifty SmallCap index fell 1.7 per cent, while the Nifty MidCap index declined by 1 per cent. Among sectors, Nifty Pharma was the worst performer, slipping over 1.5 per cent.

Indian equities ended a volatile session on a weak note as global optimism failed to lift domestic markets.

“Weakness in the market is being attributed to worries over a potential slowdown in corporate earnings, which overshadowed optimism around lower US interest rates and stable oil prices,” said Vikram Kasat, Head-Advisory, PL Capital-Prabhudas Lilladher.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to offload shares, exerting pressure on largecaps, particularly in the banking space.

FIIs sold equities worth Rs 5,462.52 crore on January 23 and remained net sellers on the 15th consecutive day, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 3,712 crore on the same day.

Meanwhile, global developments also influenced market sentiment. The Bank of Japan raised its interest rates by 25 basis points to 0.5 per cent, marking its highest policy rate since 2008.