Sensex tanks 501 points, Nifty ends below 25K on selling in bank stocks

The rupee depreciates by 4 paise to 86.16 against the US dollar

- OUR CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI: Benchmark Sensex tanked 501 points while Nifty closed below the 25,000 mark on Friday due to selling in banking shares after muted quarterly earnings and foreign fund outflows.

Falling for the second straight day, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 501.51 points or 0.61 per cent to settle at 81,757.73. During the day, it shed 651.11 points or 0.79 per cent to hit a low of 81,608.13.

The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 143.05 points or 0.57 per cent to close at a month's low of 24,968.40.

Analysts said investors turned cautious over banking stocks in response to Axis Bank's latest financial results, which fell short of market expectations.