Sensex Drops 224 pts in Fag-End Selling, Nifty Below 19,400 Ahead Of TCS, HCL Tech Q1 Results

Sensex Today: The frontline indices succumbed to aggressive selling in late deals, mainly in IT ahead of TCS and HCL Technologies Q1 earnings.

The S&P BSE Sensex dropped to a low of 65,320 – down nearly 500 points when compared to the day’s high of 65,812. The Sensex eventually ended with a loss of 224 points at 65,394. The NSE Nifty swung in a range of near about 150 points, before settling 55 points lower at 19,384.

Several brokerages have warned of a muted quarter for the IT sector as clients in the United States and Europe cut spending.

“The upside in markets is limited from here on because of the continuous rally,” said Samrat Dasgupta, chief executive officer at Esquire Capital Investment Advisors.

“It will be good if the market consolidates for some time, especially on concerns that inflation may rise again due to uneven monsoon and rise in food prices.”

The Nifty 50 and Sensex have both risen nearly 12% so far in fiscal 2024.

India’s retail inflation likely snapped a four-month decline in June due to rising food prices, a Reuters poll of economists showed.

State-owned lenders Indian Bank and Union Bank rose over 4% and 2% respectively, after global brokerage Investec initiated coverage with “buy”, citing valuation comfort in Tier-2 (except State Bank of India) public sector lenders.

Online gaming stocks Delta Corp, Nazara Technologies and Onmobile Global tumbled between 4% and 10%, after the government imposed a 28% tax on the turnover of online gaming companies.

Global Cues

Tokyo stocks opened higher on Wednesday before slipping into negative territory as a stronger yen weighed on the market, with investors awaiting key US inflation data later in the day.The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.97 percent, or 311.26 points, at 31,892.31 about 50 minutes after the opening bell, while the broader Topix index was down 0.73 percent, or 16.34 points, at 2,220.06.

US stocks rose on Tuesday, helped by optimism ahead of key inflation reports and as JPMorgan and other financial shares gained before earnings later this week.