Indian equity benchmarks opened in the red on Friday, tracking overnight losses in Wall Street. US stocks closed lower on Thursday as hotter-than-expected inflation in the country dampened sentiments of investors.

The Indian equity benchmarks edged lower on Friday dragged down by losses in index heavyweights like ICICI Bank , HDFC Bank , Tata Consultancy Services, Bharti Airtel and Larsen & Toubro. The Sensex fell as much as 193 points and Nifty 50 index dropped below its important psychological level of 25,

Sensex closed with a 0.18% gain led by banking stocks amid optimism over potential U.S. rate cuts. Key gainers included Kotak Bank and HDFC Bank. Star Health dropped 2% following a cyberattack disclosure,