Indian shares ended lower for a third straight session with the benchmark BSE Sensex falling over 66 points on Wednesday to 26,779.66 dragged down by selling in IT stocks after TCS second quarter numbers failed to impress investors amid weak global cues.
Declines in TCS and Wipro at 4.39 per cent and 0.47 per cent, respectively, kept the barometer index under pressure. The Sensex has now lost 300 points in the last three days.
Globally, Asian markets fell after Chinese inflation data indicated more weakness in the world’s second-biggest economy, while European markets were also down in their early trade.
Back home, market sentiment, which was already muted on disappointing Q2 earnings by Infosys and TCS, got a further jolt after Hindustan Unilever reported a decline of 2.62 per cent in standalone net profit. Besides, TCS on Tuesday reported a 16 per cent surge in net profit to Rs. 6,084.66 crore for the second quarter. “TCS posted results below expectation on sales front and net profit,” said Sarabjit Kour Nangra, VP research - IT, Angel Broking.
The 30-share BSE Sensex opened a shade lower at 26,760.32 and fell further to hit a low of 26,713.28 following widespread losses led by IT stocks. The index finally settled down by 66.87 points or 0.25 per cent at 26,779.66.
The 50-share NSE Nifty also dropped by 23.80 points or 0.29 per cent to close the day at 8,107.90 after shuttling between 8,096.35 and 8,139.30 intra-day.
Shares of FMCG major HUL ended 1.85 per cent down at Rs. 797.40 after company reported a decline of 2.62 per cent in its standalone net profit to Rs. 962.24 crore. Out of the 30-Sensex constituents, 15 ended lower.
Prominent Sensex losers included Tata Motors, Coal India, ICICI Bank, BHEL, NTPC, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Dr Reddy’s, Maruti Suzuki and L&T. Bucking the trend, Hindalco, Lupin, HDFC, RIL, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, GAIL, M&M, SBI, Bharti Airtel, ONGC and Sun Pharma ended by up to 3.14 per cent higher.
Sectorwise, the BSE IT index suffered the most by falling 1.32 per cent, followed by TecK 1.16 per cent, auto 0.72 per cent, power 0.70 per cent, PSU 0.49 per cent, and metal 0.30 per cent. The broader markets also performed mixed with the BSE mid-cap index ending 0.34 per down while the small-cap surged 0.35 per cent.
