A day after briefly touching the 50,000-mark, the S&P BSE Sensex declined for a second consecutive day on Friday as more investors sought to book profits.
Led by a fall in banking and metal stocks, the Sensex slumped 746 points, or 1.5%, to 48,879. The top losers included Axis Bank, Asian Paints, State Bank of India, IndusInd Bank and ICICI Bank.
The NSE Nifty 50 too shed 218 points to close at 14,372.
“Mostly sectoral indices traded in tandem with the benchmark wherein banking and metal ended as the top losers,” Ajit Mishra, VP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd., said.
He said markets will first react to Reliance numbers in early trade on Monday. “The recent underperformance from the banking pack might derail the momentum if it continues next week as well,” he added.
