Sensex ends down 99pts, Infosys drops 4%

A downward revision in earnings guidance by Infosys, coupled with weak global markets, saw the Sensex open with a negative gap of 62 points at 14,948. The index tumbled to a low of 14,830 - down 180 points from the previous close - in early deals.

Buying in cement and metal stocks helped the index recover from the day's low, and the buying momentum was so strong that the index rebounded into positive zone (high 15,015) in morning deals.

The index, thereafter, languished in negative zone for the rest of the day as investors stayed away from the beaten-down technology stocks. The Sensex finally ended with a loss of 99 points at 14,911.

The market breadth was positive - out of 2,694 stocks traded, 1,444 advanced, 1,183 declined and 67 were unchanged today.

INDEX SHAKERS....

Infosys plunged 4.5% (Rs 90) to Rs 1,930 after the company revised downwards, in rupee terms, its forecast for FY08 earnings. (Click here for the story...)

Satyam and TCS plunged 3.3% each to Rs 481 and Rs 1,147, respectively. Wipro shed 2% to Rs 510.

Ambuja Cements tumbled nearly 2% to Rs 128. Tata Motors dropped 1.7% to Rs 732, and Ranbaxy slipped 1.5% to Rs 357.

ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti were down around 1% each at Rs 954, Rs 781 and Rs 806, respectively.

...AND THE MOVERS

Grasim and Tata Steel surged 3.4% each to Rs 2,819 and Rs 655, respectively. ACC soared over 3% to Rs 1,069.

Reliance Energy and Hindustan Unilever rallied 2% each to Rs 626 and Rs 202, respectively.

MOST ACTIVE COUNTERS

Infosys topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 299 crore followed by DLF (Rs 190.50 crore), Roman Tarmat (Rs 155 crore), GMR Infrastructure (Rs 148.65 crore) and Indiabulls Real Estate (Rs 139 crore).

Reliance Natural Resources led the volume chart with trades of around 2.12 crore shares followed by IFCI (1.19 crore), Nagarjuna Fertilisers (1.17 crore), Silverline (1.13 crore) and G V Films (96.40 lakh).