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The Indian equity markets opened the last session of the week with losses on Friday despite strong gains in the domestic IT stocks. 

The Indian IT stocks defied global trends amid technology-led selloff seen in Wall Street following weaker-than-expected earnings from Nvidia.

As of 9.20 am, Sensex lost 346 points, or 0.42 per cent, to reach 81,903, and Nifty eased 113 points, or 0.44 per cent, at 25,383 in the morning trade.

Main broad-cap indices performed in line with the benchmark indices, as the Nifty Midcap 100 declined 0.30 per cent, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 lost 0.37 per cent.

All sectoral indices traded in red except Nifty IT, up 1.56 per cent and consumer durables, up 0.34 per cent. Nifty FMCG and auto were the major losers, down 0.59 per cent and 0.54 per cent, respectively.

Analysts said that fluctuating oil prices amid the ongoing crisis in Middle East are likely to keep investor sentiment cautious. The global tech weakness may continue to weigh on Indian IT stocks, which have already corrected over 20 per cent in February amid rising concerns around AI-led disruption, they added.

The immediate resistance zone of Nifty is placed between 25,600 and 25,650, while support is observed in the 25,300–25,350 range.

Resistance for Bank Nifty is seen in the 61,400–61,500 zone, while the 60,800–60,900 range remains a key support area, market participants said.

In Asian markets, China's Shanghai index eased 0.17 per cent, and Shenzhen dipped 0.68 per cent, Japan's Nikkei declined 0.24 per cent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.67 per cent. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.77 per cent.

The US markets ended largely in red overnight as Nasdaq declined 1.18 per cent. The S&P 500 lost 0.54 per cent, and the Dow Jones added 0.03 per cent.

On February 26, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold equities worth Rs 3,466 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of equities worth Rs 5,032 crore.