Sensex tanks 739 points to settle below 81K; Nifty ends at 24,531

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled on Friday as investors preferred to book profits after four days of record-breaking rally and weak trends from global markets.

Fall in blue-chip Reliance Industries also dragged the benchmarks lower.

The 30-share BSE Sensex hit its new all-time high of 81,587.76 in the initial trade but failed to carry forward the winning momentum and tanked 738.81 points or 0.91 per cent to settle below the 81,000-mark at 80,604.65.

During the day, it plunged 844.36 points or 1.03 per cent to 80,499.10.

The BSE benchmark had hit the 81,000-mark for the first time on Thursday.

The NSE Nifty tumbled 269.95 points or 1.09 per cent and ended at 24,530.90 after hitting its fresh record peak of 24,854.80 during the opening bell.

During the day, it declined 292.7 points or 1.18 per cent to 24,508.15.

Among the Sensex pack, Tata Steel tumbled over 5 per cent while JSW Steel tanked nearly 5 per cent.

Tata Motors, NTPC, UltraTech Cement, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Power Grid, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Reliance Industries were the other major laggards.

Infosys climbed nearly 2 per cent after the IT major reported a 7 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 6,368 crore in the April-June quarter and raised its growth outlook for the current financial year, signalling an improvement in the IT segment.

ITC, Asian Paints and HCL Technologies were the other gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled lower while Shanghai ended in the green.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.07 per cent to $85.05 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 5,483.63 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.