Massive profit-booking triggered in stock market for the second consecutive session, with the Sensex falling 746 points and the Nifty falling below the 14,400-mark on the week ended Friday.
A day after touching the historic 50,000-level, the Sensex found it tough to sustain itself at higher levels as investors offloaded Reliance Industries ahead of its results, while banking and finance counters also bore the brunt of heavy selling amid dull global cues. The BSE benchmark tumbled 746.22 points or 1.50 pc to finish at 48,878.54, posting its largest single-session drop in a month. The NSE Nifty slumped 218.45 points or 1.5 pc to 14,371.90.
Axis Bank was the biggest lower among the Sensex constituents, falling 4.63 pc, followed by Asian Paints, SBI, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, HDFC and Reliance Industries. On the other hand, Bajaj Auto stole the show by surging 10.45 pc, a day after it reported a robust 23 pc jump in profit after tax at Rs 1,556 crore for the three months ended December 2020.
Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement, TCS, Bajaj Finserv and Infosys were the other gainers, advancing up to 1.76 pc. On a weekly basis, the Sensex slipped 156.13 points or 0.31 pc, while the Nifty shed 61.8 points or 0.42 pc. ''Indian indices tumbled in afternoon trade dragged by weak global markets and selling seen in metal and banking indices. A positive outlook for auto and IT stocks helped them to retain their momentum even during today's correction.
Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.80 pc lower at USD 55.09 per barrel. The rupee clawed back lost ground towards the fag-end of the session and settled with a marginal 2 paise gain at 72.97 against the US dollar, supported by easing crude oil prices.
Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 1,614.66 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Reliance Q3 net profit climbs 12.5pc to Rs 13,101 cr
Stock in Focus: JK Tyre's quarterly profit speeds up to Rs 230 cr
IPO: Stove Kraft to open on Jan 25, price band set at Rs 384-385
