The Infosys stock took a severe beating, falling more than 8 per cent to end at Rs 2,264.40, while the sectoral CNX-IT index tanked by a whopping 311 points. Fiancials, auto, metal and infra-related counters too suffered.
The second biggest software services exporter reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,289 crore and sales of Rs 9,616 crore for the first quarter ended June 30. The Bangalore -based IT bellwether issued a much lower-than-expected guidance for the fiscal year ending in March 2013.
The firm cited prevailing global economic uncertainty and sharp currency fluctuations as reasons for the faltering growth. The tech major's under-performance over the last few quarters has prompted investors to off-load the stock heavily.
The market opened down, reacting to Infosys results and ahead of IIP data. The key index maintained its downward trend throughout the day. Though the market briefly recovered from intra-day lows, it fell back to end with heavy losses.
Meanwhile, the industrial production clocked better- than-expected growth to 2.4 per cent for May 2012 over negative growth of 0.9 per cent in April.
The 50-share Nifty fluctuated between a high of 5,261.75 and a low of 5,217.70 before ending at 5,235.25, a fall of 71.05 points, or 1.34 per cent, over the last close.
More From This Section
Infosys, Wipro, Bharti Airtel, IDFC, Sesa Goa, PNB, HCL Tech, Tata Motors, Axis Bank and Siemens were the top percentage wise losers from the Nifty pack. However, JP Associates, ONGC, Hero MotoCorp, Gail, BPCL, Asian Paint, Tata Power, Cairn, Grasim and Cipla ended with good gains.
The turnover in cash segment moved up to Rs 10,324.67 crore against Rs 10,105.15 crore yesterday. In all, 6,265 lakh shares changed hands in 51,09,651 trades. Market capitalisation stood at Rs 60,82,464 crore.