New Delhi, 13 February (H.S.): Domestic equities faced mounting selling pressure during early trading on Friday, with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opening weak before a brief buying spurt yielded to sustained profit-taking, culminating in sharper declines by 10:00 AM amid heavy IT sector drags.

At 10:00 AM, BSE Sensex plunged 833.12 points or 0.99% to 82,841.80 after opening 772.19 points lower at 82,902.73, briefly recovering to 83,079.70 on initial purchases, only to shed ground in the first half-hour to 82,791.52 before modest stabilization efforts. NSE Nifty mirrored the slide, down 263.80 points or 1.02% at 25,543.40, having debuted 236.05 points weaker at 25,571.15, peaking at 25,630.35 before retreating to 25,525.45 amid selling waves.

Major gainers among heavyweights included SBI Life Insurance, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Life, Bharti Airtel, and Apollo Hospitals, trading 0.04-0.84% higher; laggards dominated with Infosys, Hindalco Industries, TCS, HCL Tech, and Wipro slumping 3.23-5.77%, fueling broad-based losses where 2,220 of 2,660 active stocks traded red versus 440 green—Sensex's 30 components saw 27 down, 3 up, and Nifty's 50 had 44 decliners against 6 advancers.

Thursday's prior session saw Sensex close 558.72 points or 0.66% lower at 83,674.92, Nifty 146.65 points or 0.57% off at 25,807.20, setting a cautious tone amplified by IT routs and global cues.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar