Domestic benchmarks opened lower on Friday, tracking Wall Street after a fresh slate of US economic data underscored bets that the Federal Reserve would keep interest rates higher for longer.
In early trade, Nifty 50 index was down 0.28 per cent at 17,983, while S&P BSE Sensex was lower by 0.35 per cent at 61,095.
Ten of the 13 major sectoral indexes declined. The heavyweight financials and information technology (IT) stocks lost 0.5% and 1.16%, respectively.
The drop in the domestic equities comes after a slide in Wall Street as data showed a higher-than-expected rise in producer prices in January and a fall in jobless claims, signalling the Fed could stick with its high-rate regime.
That could weigh on growth in the world's largest economy, from where Indian IT companies get a significant share of their revenue.
HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and Wipro fell between 1.25 per cent and 1.5 per cent and were among the top losers on the Nifty index.
On the flip side, Schaeffler India rose more than 4 per cent after reporting a higher quarterly profit.
Foreign investors are expected to help cap the losses, buoying the market as they have done in the past few sessions.
Over the past five sessions, FIIs have bought a net ₹6,088 crore, reversing an extended selling trend earlier in the year.