Mumbai, Jan 3 : After a bumper start to the New Year, the Indian stock market's upward trend came to a halt on Friday amid mixed global cues as heavy selling was seen in the IT, financial services and pharma sectors.

Sensex ended at 79,223.11, down by 720.60 points or 0.90 per cent and Nifty settled at 24,004.75 down by 183.90 points or 0.76 per cent.

Nifty Bank ended at 50,988.8, down by 616.75 points, or 1.20 per cent. The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed at 57,931.05 after declining 177.15 points, or 0.30 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index closed at 19,033.70 after declining 46.65 points, or 0.24 per cent.

According to market experts, the Indian stock market experienced a significant downturn which was primarily driven by losses in key sectors such as IT, pharmaceuticals, healthcare and banking.

"Despite earlier optimism regarding potential earnings growth for the upcoming quarter, recent economic indicators have dampened expectations, contributing to the market's volatility as investors remain cautious heading into the New Year," they added.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), 2,115 shares ended in green and 1,871 shares in red, whereas there was no change in 117 shares.

On the sectoral front, buying was seen in PSU Bank, FMCG, Metal, Media, Energy and Commodities sectors.

In the Sensex pack, Zomato, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, TCS, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech, ITC, L&T, M&M and Bharti Airtel were the top losers. Whereas, Tata Motors, Titan, Nestle India, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC, IndusInd Bank and Tata Steel were the top gainers.

FIIs bought equities worth Rs 1,506.75 crore on January 2 and domestic institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 22.14 crore on the same day.

Rupak De from LKP Securities, Nifty was unable to break above the 50 EMA on the daily timeframe, resulting in a market correction.

"However, sentiment remains positive as the index closed above 24,000. The RSI shows a bullish crossover. On the upside, the index may rise towards 24,200'24,220, with a break above 24,220 potentially pushing it to 24,500. Conversely, a decisive move below 24,000 could lead the index towards 23,700," he added.

/IANS