Bears take charge of Street

Sensex down 297 pts; Infosys trips 6%

Mumbai: The markets closed over 1 per cent lower on Friday as the decline led by Infosys announcing disappointing results for end March, also its guidance for the current fiscal below to Nasscom's estimates.Experts say the market technically looks weak and could not find any positive triggers, while weak monsoon forecast is also major cause for concern, they say.

Sensex ended down 297 points at 27,438 and Nifty closed 93 points down at 8,305. The broader markets also subdued with midcap index down 1.6 per cent and smallcap index down 2.7 per cent.Meanwhile, government assured the foreign funds operating out of Singapore and Mauritius may claim treaty benefits, which may be settled within a month.On the sectoral front, excepting FMCG index all other indices closed lower with realty and consumer durables reporting top losers down over 3 per cent.

Infosys was the top loser down 6 per cent as its net down 4.7 per cent for the March quarter. Other heavyweight, ITC closed 1.2 per cent higher, as the company is planning to set up food parks in Tamil Nadu. ONGC up 2.7 per cent as it confirm three new gas discoveries in KG basin. On banking space, the stock closed lower on concerns of unseasonal rains leading to crop damages. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and SBI were down between 0.3 per cent and 2.8 per cent.

The gainers: ONGC, up 2.60 per cent at Rs 315.80; Maruti, up 1.92 per cent at Rs 3,561; Tata Consultancy Services, up 1.63 per cent at Rs 2,496.90; and ITC, up 1.43 per cent at Rs 347.15. The losers: Infosys, down 5.95 per cent at Rs 1,996.25; Cipla, down 3.89 per cent at Rs 637.80; Sesa Sterlite, down 3.16 per cent at Rs 205.05; and Hindalco, down 2.78 per cent at Rs 131.25.