Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled in early trade on Friday as investors rushed to book profits after record-breaking rallies in the past few sessions as well as tracking cues from global sell-offs.

Massive selling in bellwether stocks like Reliance and ICICI Bank also dragged the investors’ sentiment.

The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 640.13 points to trade at 81,227.42 in the morning trade. The NSE Nifty declined 271.40 points to 24,739.50. Both the indices slumped up to 1 percent during early deals.

HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, Nestle India and ITC were among the gainers.

“The rally in India has been sustained more by money flows into the market than by fundamentals. Without fundamental support the rally cannot sustain. It remains to be seen whether the buy on dips strategy will work this time too. Since valuations are high some profit booking, particularly in mid and small caps, can be considered,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.