The Sensex on Friday opened with a positive gap of 23 points at 5,071. The index, which touched a high of 5,093 in early deals, slipped on early correction and remained subdued till mid-noon deals.

The markets, however, witnessed a total sell-off towards the closing bell and slumped below the 5,000 levels to touch a low of 4,965.

The Sensex finally signed-off the last day of trading week with a huge drop of 76 points at 4,971. The Nifty slipped below the 1,600 levels, and ended with a loss of 20 points at 1,592.

While only six Sensex stocks managed to garner gains, 24 declined on Friday. The volume of shares traded and its value totalled 2.53 crore (25.3 million), and Rs 1,040.39 crore (Rs 10.40 billion), respectively.

Reliance was quoted at Rs 481 (down Rs 11 or 2%) on sustained selling pressure towards the fag-end. The diversified major logged a volume of over 26.63 lakh (2.66 million) on the BSE with a value of Rs 129 crore (Rs 1.29 billion). While HLL languished in the negative territory and ended with a loss of a per cent (Rs 3) at Rs 180, ITC lost a per cent (Rs 12) to Rs 864.

BHEL at Rs 455 (down Rs 16 or 3%) ended with steep losses. SBI and MTNL closed down a rupee each at Rs 476 and Rs 113, respectively. More than 18 lakh (1.8 million) SBI shares were traded on the BSE with a turnover of Rs 86 crore (Rs 860 million). HPCL, however, held gains and closed up a per cent (Rs 4) at Rs 334, on the back of a volume of over 11.42 lakh (1.14 million) on the BSE with a value of Rs 38 crore (Rs 380 million).

Gujarat Ambuja (down 3% or Rs 9 to Rs 277), ACC (down 2% or Rs 4 to Rs 229) and L&T (down Rs 5 to Rs 413) ended south-bound on selling pressure. Grasim, however, ended with marginal gains at Rs 890.

Infosys, after a steady loss till mid-noon deals, edged lower towards the closing bell to finish with a loss of 2% (Rs 102) at Rs 4,963. While Satyam slumped 4% (Rs 13) to Rs 328, HCL Tech also exhibited weakness through the session, and declined 3% (Rs 8) to Rs 244. Over 40.24 lakh (4.02 million) Satyam shares were traded on the BSE with a value of Rs 134 crore (Rs 1.34 billion).

Ranbaxy slipped deep into the red towards the closing bell and shed 3% (Rs 32) to Rs 998. Dr. Reddy's and Cipla dropped 2% each to Rs 1,271 (down Rs 26) and Rs 1,150 (down Rs 28), respectively. Glaxo closed down a per cent (Rs 3) at Rs 503.

Hero Honda (down Rs 9 or 2% to Rs 362) and Tata Motors (down Rs 8 or 2% to Rs 370) lost ground on selling pressure. Tata Motors clocked a volume of over 35.89 lakh (3.59 million) on the BSE with a value of Rs 135 crore (Rs 1.35 billion). Bajaj, however, drifted into the positive zone in late noon deals, and moved up a per cent (Rs 7) to Rs 914.

BSES at Rs 464 (down Rs 10 or 2%), Tisco at Rs 365 (down Rs 9 or 2%), Zee at Rs 141 (down Rs 6 or 4%) and Hindalco at Rs 1,183 (down Rs 5), too, faltered under sustained selling pressure. Over 49.49 lakh (4.95 million) Tisco shares changed hands on the BSE with a turnover of Rs 183 crore (Rs 1.83 billion). Nestle and ICICI Bank, however, bucked the trend and ended with a per cent gain each at Rs 578 (up Rs 7) and Rs 242 (up Rs 2), respectively.

Wipro and Mastek shed 2% each to Rs 1,426 (down Rs 26) and Rs 243 (down Rs 6), respectively. Digital and NIIT lost 4% each to Rs 567 (down Rs 23) and Rs 187 (down Rs 7), respectively. E-Serve at Rs 635 (down Rs 33) and Moser Baer at Rs 527 (down Rs 29) lost 5% each. Hughes declined 3% (Rs 15) to Rs 452. Mphasis, however, ended off-highs with a modest gain of Rs 3 at Rs 568.

i-flex solutions lost 5% (Rs 40) to Rs 693 on the BSE.

Kochi Refineries moved up 4% (Rs 5) to Rs 133. While BPCL gained nearly 3% (Rs 9) to Rs 358, IOC and ONGC also ended in the gainers list at Rs 379 (up Rs 4) and Rs 641 (up Rs 2), respectively. IBP, however, lost 2% (Rs 16) to Rs 838.

Balaji Telefilms declined 3% (Rs 2) to Rs 68. While Sri Adhikari dipped 2% to Rs 63, Saregama was down a per cent at Rs 48. Padmalaya Telefilms, however, closed up a per cent at Rs 83.

Sterlite Industries hit the upper circuit of 10% (Rs 106) at Rs 1,169. Hind Zinc spurted 10% (Rs 10) to Rs 102.