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Nifty fell sharply on Friday following disappointing results/guidance from IT companies, including Infosys, said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.

It fell at the fastest pace in about 18 weeks to close at 19,745 levels, down 1.17 per cent or 234.2 points from its previous close.

Volumes on the NSE continued to be higher than normal. Broad market indices did better than the Nifty with the small-cap index ending 0.13 per cent in the positive even as the advance-decline ratio came in lower at 0.82:1.

On a weekly basis, Nifty rose 0.92 per cent, losing some of the early week gains towards the end of the week, Jasani said.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said that weak guidance from Infosys cast a shadow over the outlook of the Indian IT sector, causing a delay in Nifty's pursuit of the 20,000-mark.

While the heavyweights surrendered to the bears, the small caps demonstrated resilience. Global markets presented a mixed picture, with the US market struggling due to weak earnings, while the UK retail sales exceeded expectations with a 0.7 per cent MoM growth.

Nifty opened lower dragged by selling in IT heavyweights after Infosys lowered its FY24 growth guidance, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Except for PSU bank and auto, all the sectors ended in red. IT, consumer durables, and FMCG were the major laggards, he said.