Domestic cues have taken centre stage in trade today as the Indian markets react to the third quarter results of Infosys, which kick starts the results season. The markets opened lower, weighed down by index heavyweight Infosys as the company disappointed with its lower dollar revenue guidance for the financial year 2011-12. The BSE Sensex is down 44 points at 16,132 and the Nifty is at 4,853, down 8 points, even as Infosys accounts for a 15-point loss on the benchmark index.
Earlier before the market opening, IT major Infosys reported a growth of 25% in net profit at Rs 2,372 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2011. In the previous quarter it was Rs 1,906 crore. On the year-on-year basis, the profit is up 33% from Rs 1,708 crore last year. The company beat market forecasts with a 33% rise in quarterly profit as a weak rupee boosted margins, but it cut its full-year revenue outlook because of the debt crisis in Europe, its second-biggest market.
The IT major which earns most of its revenues from exports to the US, cut its dollar revenue guidance for 2011-12(Apr-Mar) to 16.4% from an earlier 17.1-19.1%.
BSE IT index is down 6% at 2,650. Apart from Infosys, the prominent losers from the pack are TCS, Wipro and HCL Technologies, down 2-3% each.
Meanwhile, the broader markets are in the green with the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices trading marginally higher.
IIP data for the month of November, due later today, are also expected to impact sentiment.
US stocks held firm near recent five-month highs on Wednesday as investors awaited key bond market tests for Europe in the next two days that could determine the direction of the euro zone crisis. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 13.02 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 12,449.45. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 0.40 point, or 0.03 per cent, to 1,292.48.
Back home, analysts suggest that the Nifty is expected to face stiff resistance around the medium-term moving average of 4,880.
BSE Bankex, Power, Metal and Realty indices are trading in the green, having advanced nearly 1% each.
The notable losers on the Sensex, apart from the IT stocks, are Mahindra & Mahindra and Coal India, down marginally.
The gainers from the pack are NTPC, SBI, ICICI Bank, Hindalco Industries and Tata Power, up 1-2% each.
Among individual stocks, State Bank of India has gained nearly 2% over reports that the government has agreed to infuse fresh capital into State Bank of India through a preferential issue. The country's largest lender will get up to 6,000 crore before the fiscal-end, reports suggest.
The overall market breadth is positive as 838 stocks have advanced over 437 declining ones, on the BSE.