Stock market fell on the last trading day of the week, Sensex fell 501 and Nifty 143 points

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fell on Friday. This is a second consecutive fall based on withdrawal of foreign funds and selling of bank stocks after a muted start to the quarterly earnings session.

The 30-share Sensex of the BSE closed 501.51 points or 0.61% lower at 81,757.73 points. It was down 651.11 points or 0.79% to a low of 81,608.13 points at some point during the trading. Meanwhile, the 50-share NSE Nifty closed 143.05 points or 0.57% lower at 24,968.40.

Bharat Electronics, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan, and Eternal were also among the laggards in the Sensex pack. Nonetheless, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech, and Infosys were in profit.

Analysts said that after the latest financial results of Axis Bank, investors have become cautious towards banking stocks, as the results were below market expectations. Among the Sensex companies, Axis Bank fell the most by 5.24%. The bank reported that its consolidated net profit declined by 3% to Rs 6,243.72 crore in the June quarter.

Among blue-chip bank stocks, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and State Bank of India ended lower. The BSE Bankex fell 1.33% to 62,741.65 following a fall in bank stocks.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei 225 index ended lower, while Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended in the positive territory. European markets were trading with gains. US markets closed with gains on Thursday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.92% to $70.16 per barrel. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 3,694.31 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. On Thursday, the Sensex closed 375.24 points or 0.45% lower at 82,259.24. Nifty closed at 25,111.45, down 100.60 points or 0.40%.