Unrest in Egypt shook the confidence of the global markets, while macro-economy situations affected the sentiment for domestic markets. The US Dow and S&P 500 slipped 0.4 per cent and 0.55 per cent respectively while the tech-focussed Nasdaq slipped 0.1 per cent. The BSE Sensex and the NSE's S&P CNX Nifty tumbled 3.2 per cent each.

Among the ADRs, telecom majors – Tata Communications and MTNL was the worst performer.

While the former plummeted 10 per cent last week, the latter registered its life-time low on Friday and slumped 8 per cent. The week also saw the launch of 3G by Bharti Airtel in domestic markets.

Dr. Reddy's Lab, which was on the decline after its Q3 performance, recovered slightly on Friday after the Aventis SA, maker of the Allegra-D 24 allergy medicine, lost a court ruling in its challenge of a plan by Dr. Reddy's. to sell a generic version of the drug.

The better-than-expected quarterly performance by HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank failed to cheer market participants as both fell 6.3 per cent and 5.8 per cent respectively.

IT counters were also at the receiving end. Infosys closed lower by 3.8 per cent, while Wipro slumped 6.4 per cent; Patni Computer weakened by 4 per cent and Mahindra Satyam (erstwhile Satyam Computer) crashed 7.2 per cent.

Tata Motors maintained the reverse gear and slipped 4.7 per cent.