New Delhi, Mar 4 (IANS): India's key indices -- S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 - fell sharply during the session and settled lower on Friday.

Sensex settled 769 points, or 1.4 per cent, down at 54,334, whereas Nifty dipped 253 points, or 1.5 per cent, down at 16,245.

On the sectoral front, Nifty auto was the top drag, declining 3.6 per cent, NSE data showed.

The auto stocks declined as data released by the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) showed a year-on-year fall of 9.21 per cent in overall automobile retail sales during February.

Among stocks, Titan, Maruti Suzuki, Asian Paints, Hero Motocorp, and Tata Motors were the top five losers among the Nifty 50 companies, declining 5.2 per cent, 4.8 per cent, 4.5 per cent, 4.3 per cent, and 4.3 per cent, respectively.

"Global bourses are witnessing a sharp sell-off as reports of Russian attack on Europe's biggest nuclear plant in Ukraine kept tension levels elevated. Rising oil prices along with uncertainties on supply chain disruption have instilled fears that inflation could cross the RBI's tolerance level, though temporarily," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

The domestic market, however, trimmed its losses as buying was witnessed in IT and pharma stocks, Nair said.

Dr Reddy's, ITC, Tech Mahindra, BPCL, and Ultratech Cements, on the other hand, were the top five gainers on Friday.