Mumbai, Sep 4 (IANS): The Indian stock market witnessed a freefall on Friday, with the BSE Sensex closing over 600 points lower.

The fall in Indian indices was in line with a global selloff, both in the Asian and European markets.

Heavy selling was witnessed across sectors led by metal, banking, telecom and finance stocks.

The BSE metal index fell 2.99 per cent, followed by the telecom index that was down 2.57 per cent. The banking and finance indices were down 2.18 per cent and 1.86 per cent respectively.

The BSE Sensex closed at 38,357.18, lower by 633.76 points or 1.63 per cent from the previous close of 38,990.94.

It had opened at 38,325.00 and touched an intra-day high of 38,729.66 and a low of 38,249.77 points.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange closed at 11,333.85, lower by 193.60 points or 1.68 per cent from its previous close.

Manish Hathiramani, technical analyst with Deen Dayal Investments, said: "Nifty managed to stick above the 11,300-level, which is a saving grace for the bulls until markets reopen on Monday."

He added that if Nifty breaches this level on a closing basis, it could enter into a short-term bear phase.

"On the upside, Nifty needs to get past 11,600 for the markets to continue its upward momentum," he said.