Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty fell in early trade on Friday dragged down by banking shares and Reliance Industries along with continuous foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share BSE benchmark tanked 578.19 points to 59,626.87 in initial trade. The broader NSE Nifty fell 144.7 points to 17,747.25.

From the Sensex pack, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank were among the major laggards.

Tata Motors, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Steel were among the winners.

Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai were trading in the green, while Hong Kong quoted marginally lower.

Markets in the US had ended higher on Thursday.

Stock markets were closed on Thursday on account of Republic Day.

International oil benchmark Brent crude edged up 0.38 per cent to USD 87.80 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 2,393.94 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

"Traders will now gear up for the next 2-big catalysts; interest-rate decision from the Federal Reserve to trickle in on February 1, and the Union Budget for 2023-24 to be presented on the same day," said Prashanth Tapse - Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

The 30-share BSE barometer had plunged 773.69 points or 1.27 per cent to 60,205.06 on Wednesday. The Nifty had declined by 226.35 points or 1.25 per cent to 17,891.95.

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