Last-hour selloff drags Sensex 460 points down; Axis Bank, SBI slump

Mumbai: Heavy selling in the last hour of the trade dragged the Indian stock market's benchmark Sensex 460 points down on Friday.

The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex closed 460.19 points or 0.80 per cent down at 57,060.87 points against its previous day's close at 57,521.06 points. The markets witnessed a volatile session. The Sensex started the day in the positive at 57,817.51 points and surged to a high of 57,975.48 points in the intra-day. The Sensex slipped into negative in the last hour of the trade. The index slumped to a low of 56,902.30 points in the intra-day.

The Sensex had gained 701.67 points or 1.23 per cent on Thursday.

The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange also witnessed volatile trading. The Nifty 50 closed 142.50 points or 0.83 per cent down at 17,102.55 points against its previous day's close at 17,245.05 points.

The Nifty 50 opened in the positive at 17,329.25 points and surged to a high of 17,377.65 points in the intra-day. The last-hour selloff dragged Nifty down to 17,053.25 points.

The Nifty 50 had gained 206.65 points or 1.21 per cent on Thursday.

Axis Bank tumbled 6.57 per cent to Rs 728.70 after the company announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 2022. On Thursday, Axis Bank reported net profit of Rs 4,117.8 crore for the quarter ended March 2022, which is 54 per cent higher when compared with Rs 2,677 crore recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year.

State Bank of India dipped 2.08 per cent to Rs 496.50. Power Grid Corporation slipped 3.42 per cent to Rs 227.60. Wipro slumped 2.59 per cent to Rs 509.

The index heavyweight Reliance Industries Limited slumped 1.01 per cent to Rs 2790.80 on profit booking. Reliance Industries shares have rallied sharply in the recent days.

Only eight of the 30 scrips that are part of the benchmark Sensex closed in the positive. Kotak Bank rose 1.44 per cent to Rs 1791. HDFC Bank surged 1 per cent to Rs 1384.75. Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, and UltraTech Cement were among the major Sensex gainers.