Sensex slips 231 points; IT, telecom stocks slump: The Indian stock markets’ key indices, Sensex and Nifty, were trading in the red in the afternoon session on Monday dragged by heavy selling pressure in IT and telecom stocks.
The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex was trading 231.28 points or 0.42 per cent down at 54,250.56 points at 1.25 pm against its previous session’s close at 54,481.84 points.
Earlier, the Sensex started the day in the red at 54,248.60 points and slumped to a low of 54,090.53 points in the intra-day. The Sensex is trading in the red after three consecutive sessions of gains. The Sensex had gained 303.38 points or 0.56 per cent on Friday, the previous trading session.
The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange was trading 53.50 points or 0.33 per cent down at 16,167.10 points against its previous session’s close at 16,220.60 points. The Nifty is trading in the red for the first time in the past four trading sessions. The Nifty had gained 87.70 points or 0.54 per cent on Friday.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) slumped by around 5 per cent on disappointing Q1 results. The scrip was trading 4.39 per cent down at Rs 3121.40. TCS, the country’s largest IT firm, on Friday, reported a net profit of Rs 9,478 crore for the first quarter of the current financial year as compared to Rs 9,008 crore reported in the corresponding period of the last year, posting year-on-year growth of 5.21 per cent. The company’s profit is sharply lower than the market’s expectations. The company’s revenue rose 16.2 per cent year-on-year to Rs 52,758 crore for the quarter ended June 30.
Other IT firms also witnessed heavy selling pressure. HCL Technologies slumped 3.36 per cent to Rs 950.70. Infosys slipped 2.67 per cent to Rs 1473.60. Wipro fell 1.84 per cent to Rs 411.50. Tech Mahindra slipped 1.70 per cent to Rs 1008.85. Bharti Airtel slumped 4.82 per cent to Rs 661.75. L&T, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid Corporation, Kotak Bank and Sun Pharma were among the major Sensex losers.
Tata Steel surged 4.51 per cent to Rs 925.70. Mahindra & Mahindra rose 2.50 per cent to Rs 1161. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank and Reliance Industries were among the major Sensex gainers.
