Sensex choppy; Infosys supports, Sun Pharma drags

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian shares were little changed in choppy trading on Tuesday as investors remained focussed on corporate earnings, while Infosys issued an upbeat outlook and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries warned on 2016 sales.

Sun Pharma shares slumped 16 percent, heading for their biggest ever fall in a day, after the drugmaker's warning that 2016 sales would be flat at best due to costs related to remediation work at its plants.

However, support came in from Infosys, which surged 11 percent after the IT services company raised its FY16 dollar revenue growth outlook to 7.2-9.2 percent from 6.2-8.2 percent.

"Market will remain choppy till the time earnings are on," said Daljeet Kohli, head of research of IndiaNivesh Securities.

 

The BSE Sensex was down 0.05 percent, while the Nifty fell 0.02 percent, barely holding onto the 8,600 level.

Infosys' bullish guidance propped up other IT stocks, as well. HCL Technologies Ltd rose 4.28 percent, Wipro Ltd gained 2.5 percent and Tech Mahindra Ltd increased 2.9 percent.

Shares of HDFC Bank fell 0.57 percent after the company reported a smaller-than-expected rise in first-quarter profit due to higher provisions for bad loans.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel shares rose about 5 percent after French telecoms group Orange SA said it has entered into an exclusive agreement with the Indian company to buy its subsidiaries in four African countries.

(Reporting by Karen Rebelo; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)