By IANS,
Mumbai : Weak sentiments continued to pull down Indian equities markets with a key index ending Tuesday 0.42 percent lower than its previous close.
The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was down 0.42 percent or 38.69 points at 9,071.36 points at the closing bell. The index had opened lower at 9,042.36 points, compared with Monday’s close of 9,110.05 points.
“The consequences of the Satyam scandal are refusing to die down and people are looking to book short-term profits. Now with existence of a company like Satyam in doubt, investor confidence is truly shaken and I don’t think that a lot of genuine buying will happen at least in the short term,” Jagannadham Thunuguntla, head of the capital markets arm and director of India’s fourth largest share brokerage firm, the Delhi-based SMC Group.
The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also slipped into the red to end trade at 2,744.95 points, or 1.02 percent lower.
Other market indices like the BSE’s midcap index lost 1.43 percent, while the smallcap index shed 1.51 percent.
Of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE, IT sectoral index fared better than others, indicating that IT stocks were on the up. BSE IT sectoral index was up 4.71 percent over its previous close.
Among top gainers Tuesday were Infosys Technologies as it posted a net profit of Rs.16.41 billion (approx $335.5 million/Rs.1,641 crore) for the third quarter of this fiscal (2008-09), registering 33 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth.
Other gainers were Wipro which lost Monday following news that the company had been barred by the World Bank from doing business with it.
Wipro was, however, up (6.05 percent at Rs.241.10) Tuesday following assurances from the management that its inability to get business from the Washington-based World Bank would not adversely affect its business and results of its operations, as revenue from the development bank was insignificant.
Top losers Tuesday were Reliance Communications (down 6.59 percent at Rs.168) and HDFC (down 4.21 percent at Rs.1,553.45).
European markets opened weak with the FTSE index in Britain ruling 1.69 percent lower than its previous close. “Weak European markets pulled the markets down in afternoon trade,” added Thunuguntla.