NIFTY SLIDES BELOW 17,650 MARK; IT SHARES TUMBLE

The key equity benchmarks extended losses and continued to trade with heavy losses in morning trade. The Nifty traded tad below the 17,650 level. IT stocks witnessed across the board selling.

At 10:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 715.94 points or 1.18% to 59,715.06. The Nifty 50 index lost 178.95 points or 1% to 17,649.05.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.01% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.21%.

Zensar Technologies (down 4.57%), Archean Chemical Industries (down 4.18%), KPIT Technologies (down 4%), Sonata Software (down 3.97%), Balaji Amines (down 3.57%) were the top losers in the broader market segment.

HLE Glascoat (up 13.29%), Tanla Platforms (up 7.13%), Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore ( up 6.79%), Rainbow Childrens Medicare (up 3.68%), Gujarat Ambuja Exports (up 3.71%) were the top broader market gainers.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1407 shares rose and 1838 shares fell. A total of 153 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index slumped 6.28% to 26,564.05. The index has tumbled 8.34% in two sessions.

LTI Mindtree (down 6.86%), Tech Mahindra (down 6.71%), Coforge (down 6.37%) and Persistent Systems (down 6.34%) were the top losers.

Among the other losers were L&T Technology Services (down 5.81%), Mphasis (down 5.16%), HCL Technologies (down 4.71%), Tata Consultancy Services (down 3.02%) and Wipro (down 2.88%).

Infosys slumped 10.77%. The IT major reported 7% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 6,128 crore on a 2.3% fall in revenues to Rs 37,441 crore in Q4 FY23 over Q3 FY23. On a year-on-year basis, the company`s net profit and revenues are higher by 7.8% and 16%, respectively as compared with Q4 FY22.

The IT giant issued a revenue growth guidance of 4% - 7% in constant currency and operating margin guidance of 20% - 22% for FY24.

Stocks in Spotlight:

TV18 Broadcast rose 3.22% while Reliance Industries added 0.26%. Viacom18, a subsidiary of the company, closed the merger of Reliance Storage with itself and integrated JioCinema as well. Viacom18 allotted shares to RIL group entities and Bodhi Tree Systems as consideration for the scheme of merger.

Brightcom Group was locked in 5% lower circuit. SEBI found that the company overstated profit after tax for fiscals 2019 and 2020 by more than Rs 1,280 crore. The regulator has ordered the company to publish the correct shareholding pattern and its managing director and directors not to sell their shares.

KIOCL zoomed 11.38%. The company received two mineral exploration projects in Karnataka for a reconnaissance survey for polymetallic mineralisation in Nagavanda gold and base metal blocks in parts of Dhanvangere, Haveri, and Shimoga districts at Rs 1.48 crore and preliminary exploration for amalgamated Kalaburagi limestone blocks in the Jevargi region at Rs 2.33 crore.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News