Benchmark indices opened the day weak, as global markets traded lower ahead of the US jobs data. Most Asian markets were trading weak, while Europe and US markets closed lower on Thursday. All eyes would be on the key US jobs data, which could signal what the US Fed would do with interest rates in June.

Dragging the Sensex down was ITC, which is a heavyweight stock and fell 2 per cent in trade. Vedanta, Bharat Heavy, ONGC and Tata Consultancy Services were the other shares that declined.

Bharti Airtel and State Bank of India were the only gainers in trade from the Nifty space. Midcap stocks were trading flat, though Bata India gained ground along with IDFC and Jindal. PSU Banking stocks were having a good session in trade with Syndicate Bank gaining 2 per cent, while Bank of Baroda and State Bank were the other winners from the space.

Adani Ports continued to fall for the third straight session and was down another 2 per cent, shedding almost 20 per cent in these three sessions.

Meanwhile, markets across Europe were all lower with the Strait Times and the Shanghai Composite down over 1 per cent each.

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