The markets witnessed huge selling pressure in the second half and ended sharply lower on the last day of the week. The sell-off was seen in rate sensitives, metal, technology, power, oil & gas and telecom sectors. The benchmark indices shrugged off the positive global cues. The markets were volatile in the first half session.

Domestic funds continued to book profits in today's trade as well. Local traders were unwinding their weekly trade and turned cautious ahead of crucial election results next week. Pressure in midcap and smallcap was largely from local trades. The Nifty was finding strong support at 3600 on the downside and managed to close above the same level while the Sensex slipped below the 12000 mark.

Among the heavyweights, Wipro, ICICI Bank, BHEL, SBI, HDFC, Reliance Communication, Sterlite, Reliance Infrastructure and Tata Steel plunged 3-7%. Reliance Industries, Bharti, ONGC, NTPC, HDFC Bank and Infosys fell 0.8-2.8%.

The 30-share BSE Sensex touched an intraday low of 11,765.06, before closing 240.51 points or 1.98% lower at 11,876.43. The 50-share NSE Nifty fell 1.72% or 63.20 points, to settle at 3,620.70.

The markets, though, closed the week on a strong note; both indices gained 4.2% each this week. However, Dipan Mehta, Member of BSE and NSE, said he sees turbulence going forward.

"Not only will there be turbulence next week but even the following Monday (May 18) - when poll results would be out - will be the day to watch out for," Mehta said. "We are in for some volatile times. There is high implied volatility. A lot of market players are getting ready for volatility to arise in the coming few trading sessions."

On the sectoral front, BSE IT, Metal and Bank indices fell 2-3.2%. Power, Realty and Healthcare indices were down 1-1.7%. Capital Goods, Oil & Gas and FMCG indices declined 0.5-0.8%.

Secoral indices
BSE Bankex underperformed other indices, down 198.99 points or 3.21%, to 6,007.47. ICICI Bank plunged 5.19%. SBI, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank slipped 2.75-3%. HDFC tanked 4.46%.

Metals also lost shine today. Sterlite, Jindal Steel, JSW Steel and Tata Steel were down 4-5%. Hindalco, JSL and Jindal Saw fell 1-2.7%. SAIL was down 0.36%. Index tumbled 205.21 points or 2.52%, to 7,949.87.

Technology stocks like Wipro lost 6.59%. Infosys was down 2.14% and TCS fell 0.29%. The BSE IT Index was down 2.15% or 59.90 points, to settle at 2,725.35.

Telecom stocks were also draggers; Reliance Communication declined 4.11%. Idea Cellular and Bharti Airtel fell 1.4% each.

Reliance Infrastructure tanked 5%. Torrent Power, GVK Power, Reliance Power, Suzlon Energy, NTPC and Tata Power tumbled 1-3% in the power space. Respective Index fell 1.72% or 38.15 points, to 2,176.34.

Realty stocks like Unitech and DLF were down 1.8-2%, which dragged the Realty Index 26.90 points or 1.13% lower at 2,355.61.

The BSE Healthcare Index was down 1.02% or 32.17 points, to 3,122.72 and Auto Index fell 0.78% or 28.69 points, to 3,652.02. In the auto space, M&M, Bharat Forge, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki fell 1-4%.

The BSE Capital Goods Index declined 0.78% or 66.63 points, to 8,507.29 and Oil & Gas Index fell 0.76% or 64.66 points, to 8,469.43. The FMCG Index lost just 0.48% or 10.04 points, to 2,093.46.

In the capital goods space, BHEL was down 3.44%. Siemens and ABB slipped over 0.7%. However, L&T gained 0.42%.

Among oil & gas stocks, HPCL and IOC lost 1.8-2.55%. Reliance Industries, ONGC and Reliance Petroleum fell 0.7-0.9%. BPCL was down 0.14%.

Market breadth was mixed. About 1472 shares advanced while 1500 shares declined. Nearly 142 shares remained unchanged on the BSE.

Volumes were higher as compared to previous session. Total traded turnover was at Rs 78,553.41 crore. This included Rs 15,744.70 crore from NSE cash segment, Rs 56,236.37 crore from NSE F&O and the balance Rs 6,572.34 crore from BSE cash segment.

Global cues
Global cues were positive in today's trade. At the time of closing of Indian equities, European markets were trading higher. The FTSE was up 53 points, to 4,451. The CAC was trading at 3,313, up 62 points and the DAX went up 111 points, to 4,915.

Among the US futures, the Dow Jones futures rose 78 points, to 8,465 and the Nasdaq futures were up 8.5 points, to 1,403.

Asian markets ended higher. Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng gained 1% each. Jakarta Composite rose 1.84%. Nikkei and Straits Times were up 0.5-0.8%. Taiwan Weighted was up just 0.17% while Straits Times fell 0.15%.