Indian stocks fell victim to weak overseas cues on Friday as traders and investors digested the previous session's sharp rally. Heavy sales on IT stocks, in particular, and media and real estate companies negated modest gains elsewhere.

The top five losers on the Nifty were export oriented software stocks — Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, TCS, Infosys and Wipro — collectively lost 1.4-4.1 per cent on news that two American lawmakers had reintroduced a bill that seeks to further place stringent conditions of H-1B visas, which allow Indian software developers to work in the United States, the main market for Indian software providers, who collectively bring in $150 billion each year as sales.

As a consequence, the Nifty was unable to hold on to its early morning gains and it retraced from a 8-week high of 8,300 points. The Index was up just 5 points at 8,278 points. Very heavy selling was evident on the software sector's benchmark which dropped 2.8 per cent to its lowest since December 27.

Here are the major events of the day:

* Yes Bank, ONGC, Bank of Baroda, IndusInd Bank and GAIL rise 1.3-2.7 per cent and are among 32 shares that rose on the Nifty.

* Idea Cellular, Grasim, Zee Entertainment, BHEL and UltraTech Cement dropped 0.6-1.7 per cent and were among 19 stocks that fell on the index, along with the top five software exporters mentioned above.

* Infosys dropped 2.6 per cent and the counter was the top traded in terms of value with 321 crore rupees worth of shares changing hands. Wockhardt, Yes Bank and Just Dial were also on the list.

* The Sensex dropped 13 points to traded at 26,865 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

* JSW Energy, Punjab  National Bank and HDIL and Jindal Steel & Power saw hectic volume trade.

* Broader market indices were flat and they showed a faint colour of green. Mid cap and small cap indices traded flat.

* Bit gains were seen on beaten down banking scrips, metal shares and pharma companies. Their benchmarks rose 0.1-0.4 per cent.

* The bulls loosened their grip a bit on Dalal Street where 678 shares rose versus 834 that gained.