Mumbai, Mar 23 (IANS): Escalating fears of trade war leading to a sell-off in the global markets spooked domestic investors and pulled the Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) below the 10,000-level on Friday while the BSE Sensex provisionally closed over 400 points lower.

According to market observers, selling pressure was observed across all sectors led by banking, metals, automobile, capital goods and healthcare stocks.

The NSE Nifty50 provisionally closed lower by 116.70 points or 1.15 per cent at 9,998.05 points (at 3.30 p.m.).

The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 32,650.89 points, closed at 32,596.54 points -- down 409.73 points or 1.24 per cent from the previous session's close.

The Sensex fell over 500 points to touch a low of 32,483.84 points during the intra-day trade.

The BSE market breadth was bearish with 2,093 declines and 603 advances.

Index heavyweights like Axis Bank, Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India and Bajaj Auto were amongst the top losers on the BSE.

On Thursday, negative cues on the back of global protectionist measures, higher interest rates in the US and a hike in crude oil prices, along with selling pressure in banking, auto and capital goods stocks depressed the key indices.

The Nifty50 fell by 40.50 points or 0.40 per cent to close at 10,114.75 points while the Sensex closed at 33,006.27 points -- down 129.91 points or 0.39 per cent.