The BSE benchmark Sensex plunged nearly 270 points as a drop in crude prices hurt the domestic sentiment and dragged down explorers such as Oil and Natural Gas Corp.

Besides, a weak trend in global markets ahead of US non-farm payrolls data later day and French elections on Sunday also dampened the domestic sentiment.

The 30-share BSE index Sensex ended lower by 267.41 points or 0.89 per cent at 29,858.80 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty closed down 74.6 points or 0.8 per cent at 9,285.30.

Among BSE sectoral indices, metal index fell the most by 2.47 per cent, followed by oil & gas 1.61 per cent, infrastructure 1.42 per cent and PSU 1.39 per cent.

Major Sensex gainers were Adani Ports (+1.56%), Asian Paints (+1.4%), ICICI Bank (+0.2%) and Maruti (+0.17%), while the top five losers were Tata Motors (-3.84%), ONGC (-2.83%), Axis Bank (-2.7%), GAIL (-2.49%) and Reliance (-2.22%).

Banking stocks declined on profit-booking after the government tweaked rules to help tackle accumulated bad loans that are choking new credit and hurting economic growth.

The NSE PSU bank index fell 1.76 per cent, with State Bank of India declining 1 per cent and Bank of India shedding 4.5 per cent.

A fall in oil prices dragged down Reliance Industries and Oil and Natural Gas Corp , which lost more than 2 per cent each.

“On a broader scale, when the markets reach a record high, it is natural to see investors becoming jittery and a little cautious. By the end of this earnings season, one will get a clearer picture on where the market is headed,” said Tirthankar Patnaik, India Strategist at Mizuho Bank.

Asian stocks are set for a third straight day of losses on Friday as a retreat in crude oil and other commodities prices knocked global sentiment, although receding concerns about France's presidential election kept the euro near six-month highs.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan opened flat on Friday. Japan and South Korea markets are closed for trading.

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