Sensex snaps two-day rally

The Bombay Stock Exchange.
| Photo Credit: NIHARIKA KULKARNI

Benchmark BSE Sensex declined in a volatile trade on Thursday, reversing the two-day rally, largely due to selling in IT stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 64.66 points or 0.10 per cent to close at 66,408.39 points, with 14 of its constituents settling lower and 16 advancing. The index opened higher and touched a high of 66,577.60 points in early trade but later fell to a low of 66,342.53 points.

The broader Nifty of NSE also declined 17.35 points or 0.09 per cent to close below the 19,800-level at 19,794 points. It moved in a range of 19,772.65 points to 19,843.30 points during the day’s trading.

Analysts said selling in IT shares following mixed results by IT behemoth TCS dragged the key indices from the day’s high levels.

Shares of TCS, the country’s largest software exporter, dropped 1.89 per cent, a day after it reported mixed quarterly results for the July-September quarter.

It posted an 8.7 per cent year-on-year increase in its September quarter net profit and an 8 per cent rise in revenue over the year-ago period but the growth was muted on a sequential basis.

Brokerages stated its operating performance was a mixed bag.

Infosys was the biggest loser among the Sensex stocks, falling 2.29 per cent ahead of its financial results to be announced after market hours. HCL Technologies also dropped 1.75 per cent ahead of its results.

Profit taking in Bajaj Finance, Nestle, Kotak Bank, SBI, Bharti Airtel L&T and Asian Paints also weighed on the benchmark index.

Maruti bucked the trend by gaining 1.73 per cent after strong retails sales in September. Power Grid, M&M. JSW Steel and Tata Steel also advanced.

Asian markets, including Japan, China and Hong Kong gained.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed 1.9 per cent higher, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 1.8 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi was up 1.2 per cent. China’s key Shanghai Composite rose 0.9 per cent.

Stock markets in France, Germany and the U.K. were also up ahead of the release of U.S. inflation data.

On the domestic front, Sensex had jumped 393.69 points or 0.6 per cent to close at 66,473.05 points while Nifty climbed 121.50 points or 0.62 per cent to settle at 19,811.35 points on Wednesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued to be net sellers as they offloaded shares worth ₹421.77 crore on Wednesday, according to data available with BSE.