The equity benchmarks experienced a sell-off, with Sensex and Nifty falling by nearly half a per cent on Friday. This decline came after a two-day rally, as market sentiment turned cautious, leading to a pullback in stock prices following a period of upward movement.

Foreign portfolio investors turned net sellers on Thursday, offloading shares worth Rs 5,462 crore, while domestic institutional investors picked up shares of Rs 3,713 crore