India, May 30 -- Benchmark Sensex tumbled 1,092 points and Nifty closed below 24,550 on Friday due to last-minute profit booking in financials and oil & gas shares amid reports of a below-normal monsoon season rainfall.

Dragged by late selling, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 1,092.06 points, or 1.44 per cent, to settle at 74,775.74. The index opened higher and moved in a tight range for most of the session. However, heavy profit booking in Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, M&M and Bajaj Finance dragged the benchmark down by 1,278.69 points, or 1.68 per cent, to 74,589.11 in the pre-close session.

Falling for the third consecutive session, the 50-share NSE Nifty dived 359.40 points, or 1.50 per cent, to end at 23,547.75. A...