<p>Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fell sharply on Friday as foreign fund outflows and a muted start to the quarterly earnings season dented investors' sentiment.</p>.<p>Analysts said sentiment among banking stocks is especially cautious in response to Axis Bank's latest financial results, which fell short of market expectations.</p>.<p>The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 651.11 points or 0.79 per cent to 81,608.13 during the day. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 192.8 points or 0.76 per cent to 24,918.65.</p>.Rupee falls 22 paise to 85.98 against US dollar in early trade.<p>From the Sensex firms, Axis Bank tumbled nearly 5 per cent after the firm reported a 3 per cent dip in its June quarter consolidated net profit at Rs 6,243.72 crore, impacted by the implementation of changes in non-performing assets and loan upgrade policy.</p>.<p>Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research, HDFC Securities, said Axis Bank's latest financial results fell short of market expectations.</p>.<p>"Notably, Axis Bank's GDR tumbled 4.8 per cent to USD 64.30 on Thursday, following a deterioration in the bank's asset quality during the June quarter," he said.</p>.<p>Among blue-chip bank stocks, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank and State Bank of India were trading lower.</p>.<p>Following the decline in bank stocks, the BSE Bankex index traded 1.33 per cent lower at 62,743.88.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, Bharat Electronics, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Eternal, Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra and HDFC Bank were also among the laggards.</p>.<p>However, Tata Steel, Infosys, HCL Tech and Bajaj Finance were the gainers.</p>.<p>Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,694.31 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.</p>.<p>"In July, so far, India has been underperforming most markets, with a dip of 1.6 per cent in Nifty. A significant contributor to the decline is the selling by FIIs.</p>.<p>"There is a clear pattern in FII activity this year so far. They were sellers in the first three months. For the next three months they turned buyers. And in the seventh month the trends so far indicate further selling unless some positive news reverses the downtrend in the market," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.</p>.<p>In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei 225 index quoted lower, while Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng traded in the positive territory.</p>.<p>The US markets ended higher on Thursday.</p>.<p>Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.47 per cent to USD 69.85 a barrel.</p>.<p>On Thursday, the Sensex dropped 375.24 points or 0.45 per cent to settle at 82,259.24. The Nifty ended lower by 100.60 points or 0.40 per cent to 25,111.45.</p>
<p>Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fell sharply on Friday as foreign fund outflows and a muted start to the quarterly earnings season dented investors' sentiment.</p>.<p>Analysts said sentiment among banking stocks is especially cautious in response to Axis Bank's latest financial results, which fell short of market expectations.</p>.<p>The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 651.11 points or 0.79 per cent to 81,608.13 during the day. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 192.8 points or 0.76 per cent to 24,918.65.</p>.Rupee falls 22 paise to 85.98 against US dollar in early trade.<p>From the Sensex firms, Axis Bank tumbled nearly 5 per cent after the firm reported a 3 per cent dip in its June quarter consolidated net profit at Rs 6,243.72 crore, impacted by the implementation of changes in non-performing assets and loan upgrade policy.</p>.<p>Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research, HDFC Securities, said Axis Bank's latest financial results fell short of market expectations.</p>.<p>"Notably, Axis Bank's GDR tumbled 4.8 per cent to USD 64.30 on Thursday, following a deterioration in the bank's asset quality during the June quarter," he said.</p>.<p>Among blue-chip bank stocks, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank and State Bank of India were trading lower.</p>.<p>Following the decline in bank stocks, the BSE Bankex index traded 1.33 per cent lower at 62,743.88.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, Bharat Electronics, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Eternal, Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra and HDFC Bank were also among the laggards.</p>.<p>However, Tata Steel, Infosys, HCL Tech and Bajaj Finance were the gainers.</p>.<p>Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,694.31 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.</p>.<p>"In July, so far, India has been underperforming most markets, with a dip of 1.6 per cent in Nifty. A significant contributor to the decline is the selling by FIIs.</p>.<p>"There is a clear pattern in FII activity this year so far. They were sellers in the first three months. For the next three months they turned buyers. And in the seventh month the trends so far indicate further selling unless some positive news reverses the downtrend in the market," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.</p>.<p>In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei 225 index quoted lower, while Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng traded in the positive territory.</p>.<p>The US markets ended higher on Thursday.</p>.<p>Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.47 per cent to USD 69.85 a barrel.</p>.<p>On Thursday, the Sensex dropped 375.24 points or 0.45 per cent to settle at 82,259.24. The Nifty ended lower by 100.60 points or 0.40 per cent to 25,111.45.</p>