IT stocks drag Nifty to near 1-1/2 month closing low

By Abhishek Vishnoi

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The Nifty fell nearly 1 percent on Wednesday to its lowest close in about 1-1/2 months as software stocks slumped after the rupee hit a one-month high.

Indian IT exporters were hurt by the rupee that strengthened above 60 per dollar on Wednesday, boosted by gains in other Asian currencies and corporate greenback sales.

A ratings downgrade by UBS on India's second largest IT services exporter, Infosys , also weighed on BSE sub-index for IT stocks, which fell 2.5 percent to its lowest close since Dec. 9, 2013.

Risk aversion by overseas investors ahead of election results on May 16 also continued as they sold index futures worth 4.44 billion rupees ($73.91 million) on Tuesday, resuming their five-day selling streak after a one-day halt on Monday.

 

Meanwhile, foreign institutional buying in Indian cash shares slowed to 459 million rupees on Tuesday, lower than the five-day average, provisional exchange data showed.

"The market is likely to remain nervous till final election results come. Participation would not be heavy. Investors are booking positions and would wait to see election outcome," said Dinesh Thakkar, chairman and managing director of Angel Broking.

The broader Nifty fell 0.93 percent, or 62.75 points, to end at 6,652.55, its lowest close since March 27, also closing below the psychologically important 6,700 level.

The benchmark BSE Sensex lost 0.82 percent, or 184.52 points, to end at 22,323.90, its lowest close since April 16.

Infosys slumped 3.1 percent after UBS downgraded it to "sell" from "buy", saying a turnaround at the IT outsourcer could take longer than expected.

Tata Consultancy Services fell 1.5 percent, Wipro ended down 1.7 percent and HCL Technologies lost 4.5 percent.

The stronger rupee also weighed on other exporters: Cipla Ltd fell 2.1 percent, while Lupin Ltd ended down 1.2 percent.

Among other blue-chips Housing Development and Finance Corp fell 2.8 percent, while ITC ended down 0.4 percent.

Bucking the trend, Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd surged 7 percent after earlier hitting a record high of 106.45 rupees after the port operator reported a 72 percent surge in January-March net profit.

(Editing by Anand Basu)