The BSE Sensex plunged 450 points on Friday, while the broader Nifty dropped 130 points to below 8,850 amid a selloff in state-run lenders. The sub-index of PSU banks plunged over 5 per cent after Bank of Baroda reported a 69 per cent fall in quarterly profit due to higher provisions for bad loans and a surge in tax expenses. (Read the full story here)

Bank of Baroda, India's second-biggest lender by assets, crashed over 14 per cent. Other PSU banks also fell sharply. Oriental Bank of Commerce, which had reported a 90 per cent drop in quarterly profit yesterday, traded 4 per cent lower. Big state-run lenders such as SBI and PNB traded with 4-5 per cent losses.

Private lenders, which have much better asset quality as compared to their PSU counterparts, also came under profit taking. ICICI Bank traded 2 per cent lower, while HDFC Bank was down 2 per cent.

Coal India traded with over 3 per cent losses as the floor price for the share sale was fixed at a 4.5 per cent discount to Thursday's close. The government will sell 315.8 million shares with an option to sell another 315.8 million in the auction, which will start at 9.15 am and end at 3.30 pm on Friday. (Read)

The bright spot today was HCL Tech, which traded 8.5 per cent higher on the back of stellar quarterly results. Realty major DLF, up 2.5 per cent, state-run NTPC and BHEL were the other Nifty stocks to trade with 2-2.5 per cent gains. (Read the full story here)

Earlier, markets opened at record highs, with the BSE Sensex rising to an all-time high of 29,844. The Nifty hit a record high of 8,996 at its day high.

Indian stock markets have been on a record-breaking rally since the RBI announced a surprise rate cut on January 15. The Nifty has rallied for 10 straight sessions accumulating over 700 points, while the Sensex is up over 2,000 points.

Market analyst Ambraeesh Baliga said valuations are becoming costly and advised traders to be cautious. However, he said another 300-400 point rally on the Nifty is possible ahead of the Budget.

As of 12 p.m., the Sensex traded 403 points lower at 29,279, while the Nifty was down 120 points at 8,833.