Market Crash | Sensex, Nifty50 extend losses to 2nd day; Axis Bank sends Nifty Bank tumbling 1%

Domestic equity benchmarks continued to fall for a second straight session on Friday, as weak quarterly earnings from Axis Bank led losses across the financial space and the overall market. Axis Bank was the biggest contributor to the sharp declines in both main gauges. The Sensex ended 501.5 points, or 0.6 per cent, lower at 81,757.7, while the Nifty50 gave up 143.1 points, or 0.6 per cent, to settle at 24,968.4. Selling pressure in financial and FMCG shares weighed on the market, though gains in pockets such as metal stocks lent some support, saving the indices from deeper losses. 

Here are five key things to know about the stock market: 

• Analysts say that concerns about the ongoing earnings season amid prevalent caution about trade tariffs are keeping buyers at bay. 
• Axis Bank shares logged their worst single-day close in six months, a day after the private sector lender reported a weak set of financial results. Analysts say that higher credit costs and margin pressure unexpectedly dented the bank's profitability in Q1. Axis Bank registered a 4 per cent decline in its net ofit to Rs 5,806 crore while its net interest income increased 0.8 per cent to Rs 13,560 crore. Its asset quality deteriorated. Gross non-performing assets as a percentage of total loans came in at 1.57 per cent from 1.28 per cent the previous quarter. Read more on Axis Bank results
• IT stocks saw a relatively calmer day thanks to Wipro's strong results post-market hours the previous day. The IT major also gave strong guidance for the next quarter, say analysts. Wipro registered a net profit of Rs 3,330 crore with revenue of Rs 22,135 crore for the quarter ended June 30, meeting analysts' expectations. According to Zee Business research, Wipro was estimated to report a net profit of Rs 3,076 crore with revenue of Rs 21,858 crore.
• The Bengaluru-based IT firm said it expects its IT services revenue to be in the range of $2,560 million-$2,612 million during the quarter ending September 30, which translates to sequential growth ranging from -1.0 per cent to 1.0 per cent in constant currency terms. The company also declared a dividend of Rs 5 per share. Read more on Wipro earnings 
• Investors await more corporate earnings from India Inc for domestic cues. Besides, foreign institutional investor outflows continue to dent sentiment on Dalal Street, say analysts. As of July 17, foreign institutional investors have net offloaded equities to the tune of Rs 17,330 crore for the month, while domestic institutional investors have made net purchases worth Rs 19,790 crore, according to provisional exchange data.