Negative global cues emanating from China and Greece countered the positive sentiments surrounding the upcoming first quarter (Q1) results and led a barometer of the Indian equities to close 114 points down on Thursday.
The benchmark index of the Indian equity markets, the 30-scrip Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensitive Index (Sensex), closed 114.06 points or 0.41 percent down after the day's trade.
The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also closed in red. It was down 34.50 points or 0.41 percent at 8,328.55 points.
The Sensex of the S&P BSE, which opened at 27,681.49 points, closed the day's trade at 27,573.66 points, down 114.06 points or 0.41 percent from the previous day's close at 27,687.72 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 27,798.13 points and a low of 27,540.60 points in the intra-day trade.
Analysts said that after the opening session, markets remained range-bound. However, they soon slipped into negative territory, due to the heavy sell-off in information technology (IT) counters ahead of TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) results.
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Market observers also pointed out that the investor confidence was shaken a day after the barometer index lost 484 points due to fears of a Chinese stock markets meltdown and the stalemate in the Greek debt crisis.
"Various factors were at play today. The hopes of healthy first quarter (Q1) results, good monsoon progress and the positive US Fed's FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) minutes were cancelled by the fears of a Chinese stock markets crash and Greece issue," Anand James, co-head, technical research desk, Geojit BNP Paribas, told IANS.
"There is a consensus that the Q1 of 2015-16 will be better than the Q4 of 2014-15, due to factors like lower inflation, easing of monetary policy and stable rupee," James said.
However, the positive bias is being cancelled-out by the negative international cues from China and Greece.
Even the sharp fall in the light sweet crude oil of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures and options index on Wednesday, which pegged a barrel at $50, failed to cheer the markets.
The India markets which depends on Brent crude oil index are also effected by the price movements of the WTI.
Gaurav Jain, director with Hem Securities elaborated that the markets closed the day's trade on a cautious note with negative bias ahead of the corporate earnings.
"Weak global cues on account of worries on Greece and China also weighed on the sentiment," Jain added.
On Friday, the major trigger for the markets will be the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data.
During Thursday's intra-day trade, healthy buying was observed in capital goods, healthcare and bank stocks.
However, the IT, oil and gas, automobile, technology, entertainment and media (TECK) and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) scrip came under intense selling pressure.
The S&P BSE capital goods index augmented by 344.53 points, healthcare index extended-gains by 23.82 points and bank index rose by 21.32 points.
The S&P BSE IT index plunged by 198.47 points, oil and gas index receded by 199.54 points, automobile index plummet by 105.96 points, TECK index was lower by 91.32 points and FMCG index was down by 44.87 points.
The major Sensex gainer during Thursday's trade were: BHEL, up 3.59 percent at Rs.264.35; Larsen and Toubro (LT), up 2.39 percent at Rs.1,847.50; Hindalco Inds, up 2.21 percent at Rs.104; Hero MotoCorp, up 2.05 percent at Rs.2,605.40; and Bharti Airtel, up 0.83 percent at Rs.432.90.
The major Sensex losers were: Vedanta, down 4.86 percent at Rs.139; TCS, down 2.80 percent at Rs.2,521.40; Bajaj Auto, down 2.33 percent at Rs.2,513.95; Infosys, down 2.04 percent at Rs.937.70; and Tata Motors, down 1.73 percent at Rs.398.15.
Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei was up by 0.60 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index went gained by 5.79 percent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose by 3.73 percent.
In Europe, the London FTSE 100 index was up by 1.08 percent, the French CAC 40 was higher by 2.11 percent and Germany's DAX Index gained by 1.92 percent at the closing bell here.