By IANS,
Mumbai : A benchmark index for Indian equities markets Thursday closed 351 points lower due to heavy selling in front-line stocks like Infosys, which posted a lower-than-expected quarterly result.
Expectations of a rate hike by the Reserve Bank of India continued to haunt investors.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 19,492.3 points, closed at 19,182.82 points – down by 351.28 points or 1.8 percent from its previous close at 19,534.1 points.
The 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange too ended in the red at 5,751.9 points, down 111.35 points or 1.9 percent.
The stock of Infosys Technologies fell 4.8 per cent in its biggest one-day slide in close to two years, after it posted a 14 percent increase in quarterly profits — lower than what the street expected — and said future growth could be sluggish.
Broader markets shut shop in the red, with the BSE midcap index closing 0.8 percent down and the BSE small cap index ending 0.65 percent lower.
Banking, IT, telecom and consumer durables were among the top losing sectors. All but one of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE ended in the red. Realty stocks were the only ones that saw some gains.
The market breadth was negative, with 1,104 stocks advancing compared to 1,693 scrips on the decline, while 184 stocks remained unchanged.
There were only four gainers on the Sensex: Tata Motors, up 1.58 percent at Rs.1,235.65; ONGC, up 1.04 percent at Rs.1,199.30; DLF, up 0.61 percent at Rs.265.10, and Reliance Communications, up 0.14 percent at Rs.138.50.
Top Sensex losers included Bajaj Auto, down 1.52 percent at Rs.1,286.70; L&T, down 1.43 percent at Rs.1,759.90; Hindustan Unilever, down 1.29 percent at Rs.305, and Cipla, down 0.86 percent at Rs.345.65.
Asian stock markets ended in the green.
The Chinese Shanghai Composite index moved up 0.23 percent at 2,827.71 points, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed 0.47 percent higher at 24,239.78 points.
The Japanese Nikkei closed 0.73 percent up at 10,589.76 points.
European stocks were mixed after gains in the previous sessions.
Around mid-day, the German DAX was ruling 0.24 percent lower at 7,051.54 points, while the French CAC 40 was trading 0.12 percent up at 3,950 points.
The UK’s FTSE was ruling 0.66 percent down at 6,010.76 points.