MUMBAI - The downtrend at the Indian equities markets continued Friday, with a key index losing its way towards closing bell after rising more than 140 points to end trade over 253 points in the red.

The 30-scrip benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the Sensex, which opened at 13,803.12 points, fell 253.24 points or 1.84 percent to 13,504.22 points.

The fall was made steeper by heavyweight Reliance Industries falling about 4 percent or Rs.73.95 to Rs.1,778.40.

The Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too closed lower at 4,003.9 points, down 1.89 percent.

Broader market indices similarly came under selling pressure, with the BSE midcap index ending 1.92 percent down and the BSE smallcap index closing 1.79 percent lower.

Of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE, those for energy, power, and capital goods lost the most, while only IT stocks led by Wipro and Infosys ended on the gaining list.

The market breadth was negative with 772 stocks advancing compared to 1,785 declining. Eighty-one remained unchanged.

“This whole week the markets have been falling, and this was going to happen anyway. The markets had rallied without fundamentals and were running on excess liquidity,” said SMC Capitals equity head Jagannadham Thunuguntla.

“The budget was the trigger for the fall. In the absence of major policy announcements, the markets just plummeted,” added Thunuguntla.

Gainers among the Sensex included Wipro, up 3.37 percent at Rs.384.70; Sterlite, up 3.32 percent at Rs.575.70; Infosys, up 2.97 percent at Rs.1,726.50; and TCS, up 1.56 percent at Rs.394.65.

Among the losers were Reliance Infra, down 6.5 percent at Rs.1,029.45; Jaiprakash Associates, down 5.62 percent at Rs.186.25; Reliance Communications, down 5.43 percent at Rs.242.15; and HDFC, down 4.66 percent at Rs.2,199.15.

Data with the market watchdog, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), showed that foreign funds were net sellers, shedding shares worth $59.6 million Friday.

In other Asian markets, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average, a key index of the Tokyo stock exchange, closed Friday’s trading at 9,287.28 points, down 3.78 points.

The Hang Seng, a primary index of the Hong Kong stock exchange, also closed in the red, down 82.17 points at 17,708.42 points.

European markets were trading in the red as well with the FTSE 100, a key British index, ruling 31.86 points down at 4,126.8 points, while its French peer CAC 40 was ruling 17.29 points lower at 3,008.65 points.

Futures of key US market indices pointed to a weak opening of the main indices Friday, with the Dow Jones futures ruling about 0.3 percent lower, while the Standard and Poor’s index lost 0.4 percent.

The futures of technology heavy index Nasdaq was also trading 0.3 percent down.