Mumbai, Jan 29 (IANS): Flight of foreign funds, along with global cues and profit booking, hammered the equities market on Friday.

Besides, nervousness over the upcoming Budget FY21 led to the sharp correction.

FIIs on Friday were net sellers to the tune of Rs 5,930.66 crore in BSE, NSE and MSEI in the capital market segment.

The FIIs have net sold over Rs 12,730.66 crore from the equity markets in the last five sessions, the longest exit spree since March and September.

Globally, European and Asian stocks ended lower on Friday as concerns rose on the slow rollout of Covid-19 vaccines and retail trading frenzy gripped Wall Street.

On the domestic front, Nifty witnessed a volatile session with stock specific moves as the overall mood of the market remained subdued.

Among sectors, banks, PSU banks, realty were the main gainers, while auto, IT, metals, pharma and FMCG were the main losers.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed at 46,285.77, lower by 588.59 points from the previous close of 46,874.36 points.

It opened at its intra-day high of 47,423.47 and recorded a low of 46,160.46 points.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange closed at 13,634.60, lower by 182.95 points, or 1.32 per cent, from its previous close.

"The 'high low bar' (on technical charts) of Friday engulfs that of the previous session, thus throwing water on hopes of turnaround in the indices," said HDFC Securities' Retail Research Head Deepak Jasani.

"In the choppy trade over the next two sessions, Nifty could take support at 13,373-13,399 and later at 13,128."

Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said: "Surge in volatility due to selling pressure and ahead of the Budget 2021, could keep the swing with limited upside in the market. Going ahead, markets may continue to remain highly volatile amidst the ongoing earning season and Union Budget 2021 on Feb 1."

"Expectations from the budget are running high. However, the government's fiscal response in 2020 indicates certain inflexibility and the lack of resources to stimulate the economy. Market would also track RBI's monetary policy next week along with BoE's monetary policy for further cues."