After a nine-day surge, equity benchmark indexes dipped in early trading on Monday, headed by index heavyweight Infosys, which saw a roughly 12% decline on lower-than-anticipated revenue growth estimate for FY24.
The benchmark was driven down by weak developments in other IT stocks as well.
Early trading saw the 30-share BSE Sensex plunge 677.86 points to 59,753.14. The NSE Nifty, a wider index, dropped 200 points to 17,628.
Infosys was the biggest loser among the Sensex companies, falling nearly 12% after the company reported weaker-than-expected growth in the fourth quarter net profit and gave a weak 4-7% revenue growth guidance for FY24 amid clients’ tightening IT budgets in the wake of a crisis in the US banking sector.
The other underperformers were Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HDFC, and HDFC Bank.
Among the winners were Power Grid, IndusInd Bank, UltraTech Cement, Nestlé, Titan, and Hindustan Unilever.
According to V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, “Infosys’ worse-than-expected Q4 results with barely 4 to 7 percent revenue growth for FY24 could drive down IT companies hitting the Nifty.”
In Asian markets, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading higher while Seoul and Japan were trading down.
The American stock markets experienced a down day on Friday.
Denting emotions are the Q4 results from TCS and Infosys, which fell short of market expectations. According to Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd., investors will also pay attention to March inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI).
Since it was Ambedkar Jayanti on Friday, the stock markets were closed.
The Sensex increased little on Thursday, rising 38.23 points or 0.06 percent to close at 60,431. In order to reach 17,828 points, the Nifty gained 15.60 points, or 0.09 percent.
Brent crude, the benchmark for all crude oil, increased 0.07 percent to USD 86.37 a barrel.
According to exchange statistics, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) purchased shares of stock on Thursday valued Rs 221.85 crore.
