TCS deals blow

STOCKS REPORT

The markets reacted negatively to TCS' fourth quarter results which were announced on Tuesday. Minutes after the results announcement, selling pressure intensified across the board with the TCS stock losing nearly 10 per cent in intra-day trades.

The stock dragged the entire markets down as the benchmark BSE Sensex slipped from its intra-day high of 6269.75, up 113 points to finally close 21.92 points lower at 6134.86.

The Nifty ended 18.40 points lower at 1909.40.

Dealers pointed out that the market went in a free fall disappointed with the quarterly numbers. The breadth of the market turned negative with 1,404 losers and 913 gainers. On account of high volatility, the volumes on the bourses improved slightly. Shares worth Rs 1,925 crore were traded on BSE on Tuesday compared with Rs 1,752.82 crore on Monday.

The BSE IT index was the biggest loser, down 2.38 per cent to 2346.47. Technology stocks came under severe selling pressure with IT major, TCS, being the biggest loser among the frontline IT companies. The TCS stock tanked 8.37 per cent to Rs 1,209.75. Market analysts said, the disappointment resulted in sell-off across most IT stocks. Infosys slipped from its day's high of Rs 1,974 to end 0.11 per cent higher at Rs 1914.10.

Satyam stock was down 4.63 per cent to Rs 367.85, while Wipro ended 2.99 per cent lower to close at Rs 576.95. Among second rung IT companies, CMC was down 14.16 per cent to Rs 522 and HCL Infosystems was down 1.58 per cent to Rs 786.

In the BSE Sensex basket, 15 of 30 stocks ended negative. The biggest gainer among the Sensex stocks were HDFC, up 2.55 per cent to Rs 707.00, HDFC Bank, up 1.89 per cent to Rs 530.90, Bharti Tele-Ventures, up 1.4 per cent to Rs 206.75 and Tata Power, up 1.37 per cent to Rs 336.85.

Net ouflow by FIIs have also dampened the overall sentiment of the investors, brokers pointed out. The FIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 1,031.10 crore in the last two trading sessions. On April 18, they were net sellers of Rs 456.70 crore of equity while they sold worth Rs 574.40 crore on April 15.

Metal stocks declined further. The BSE Metal index ended 71.72 points lower at 5677.47, coming off its day's high of 5866.01. Among the big losers were Nalco, down 2.48 per cent to Rs 151.20, Tata Steel declined from Rs 363.95 to Rs 345.35 before settling at Rs 345.75, down 2.39 per cent from its previous close.

Automobile blue chips, Hero Honda was down 2.15 per cent to Rs 491.25, Bajaj Auto was down 1.11 per cent to Rs 1,060, Maruti Udyog was down 0.75 per cent to Rs 412.55 and Tata Motors was down 0.20 per cent to Rs 420.

Heavyweights Hindustan Lever was down 1.97 per cent to Rs 127, ITC was down 1.02 per cent to Rs 1,365, State Bank of India was down 0.94 per cent to Rs 614.15 and Reliance Industries was down 0.75 per cent to Rs 514.40.