Indian stock market benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty 50, faced significant losses on January 3 due to profit booking and a strengthening US dollar. The Sensex dropped over 700 points, while the Nifty 50 fell 200 points amid selling pressure across several sectors.

BSE Sensex and Nifty50 declined nearly 1 per cent on Friday as investors reduced their holdings in banking and IT sectors before the upcoming earnings season.

The BSE Sensex fell 614 points, or 0.77 per cent to close at 79,330.14. Nifty declined 168.80 points, or 0.7 per cent, to 24,019.85. This is even as 2,136 BSE-listed stocks gained against 1,499 that slid so far.