Sensex tumbles over 600 points: Why is stock market falling today?
Axis Bank led the slide, plunging over 4%—its sharpest fall in six months—after it posted a lower-than-expected June-quarter profit.The bank attributed the miss to a rise in bad loans following a one-time industry-wide benchmarking exercise and a dip in its net interest margin to 3.8%, down from 4.05% in the previous quarter.The lender said it had to realign its asset classification norms after discovering that a peer bank was using a stricter standard. While Axis did not name the bank, the change led to higher provisioning and credit costs.Brokerages flagged further concerns. Macquarie said the results raised "more questions than answers", pointing to Axis's elevated credit costs compared to peers, even after accounting for the one-time shift.The miss at Axis Bank weighed on investor sentiment across the sector, even as IT stocks provided some relief. Wipro gained 3% following its results, but the Nifty IT index remained flat as LTIMindtree slipped 2%.Broader markets also stayed weak. The Nifty Smallcap 100 and Midcap 100 indices were down 0.6% and 0.5%, respectively. So far this week, the Sensex has shed 0.8%, while the Nifty is down 0.5%, setting up both indices for a third straight week of losses.All eyes are now on the June-quarter results of heavyweights HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, due on Saturday, which could set the tone for next week's market direction.- EndsTrending Reel
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