Sensex snaps 3-day winning run; closes 87 points down

Mumbai: Snapping three consecutive sessions of winning run the Indian equities markets key indices, Sensex and Nifty, closed in the red on Monday dragged by heavy selling pressure in IT and telecom stocks.

The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex closed 86.61 points or 0.16 per cent down at 54,395.23 points 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 briefly turned positive in the last hour of the trade. It rose to a high of 54,527.90 points in the intra-day.

The Sensex closed 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 closed 4.60 points or 0.03 per cent down at 16,216.00 points against its previous session’s close at 16,220.60 points.

The Nifty closed 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 closed 4.64 per cent down at Rs 3113.25.

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 4.10 per cent to Rs 943.40. Infosys slipped 2.72 per cent to Rs 1472.80. Wipro fell 1.91 per cent to Rs 411.20. Tech Mahindra slipped 1.83 per cent to Rs 1007.50.

Bharti Airtel slumped 5.03 per cent to Rs 660.30. L&T, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid Corporation, Kotak Bank and Sun Pharma were among the major Sensex losers.

Tata Steel surged 3.04 per cent to Rs 912.70. Mahindra & Mahindra rose 2.86 per cent to Rs 1165.05.

The index heavyweight Reliance Industries Limited rose 1.33 per cent to Rs 2423.20. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank and NTPC were among the major Sensex gainers.