Mumbai: Declining for the fifth straight session, equity benchmark Sensex on Friday plunged about 660 points to crash below the 80,000 level due to widespread selling pressure tracking massive foreign capital outflows and muted earnings growth.
Besides, deep losses in energy, consumer durable and industrial stocks and surging global crude prices amid geopolitical uncertainties added to the gloom, analysts said.
The BSE Sensex plummeted 662.87 points or 0.83 per cent to settle at 79,402.29. During the day, it plunged 927.18 points or 1.15 per cent to 79,137.98.
A total of 3,101 stocks declined, while 841 advanced and 79 remained unchanged on the BSE.
The NSE Nifty tanked 218.60 points or 0.90 per cent to 24,180.80. The index closed lower for the fourth consecutive week.
On the weekly front, the BSE benchmark tanked 1,822.46 points or 2.24 per cent, and the Nifty fell by 673.25 points or 2.70 per cent.
Tracking the weak trend in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms tumbled Rs 6,80,383.26 crore to Rs 4,36,98,921.66 crore ($5.20 trillion).
From the 30 Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank plunged over 18.50 per cent after the firm reported a 40 per cent decline in September quarter net profit at Rs 1,331 crore, pulled down by concerns over its asset quality.
Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, NTPC, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Maruti, Bajaj Finance and Titan were also among the laggards.
In contrast, Axis Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Sun Pharma and ICICI Bank were the other big gainers. ITC climbed over 2 per cent after the diversified entity reported an 1.8 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit to Rs 5,054.43 crore in the second quarter ended September 2024.
The BSE smallcap gauge declined by 2.44 per cent, and the midcap index fell by 1.48 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, oil & gas plunged 3.09 per cent, consumer durables tumbled 2.74 per cent, services (2.69 per cent), energy (2.66 per cent), utilities (2.53 per cent), telecommunication (2.38 per cent) and capital goods (2.23 per cent). FMCG emerged as the only gainer.