Indices tumble nearly 1% on selling in IT, auto stocks

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined for the third session in a row on Friday, dropping nearly 1 per cent, dragged by heavy selling in IT, auto and energy stocks amid a muted start of the earnings season. Tariff-related uncertainties and mixed global market trends also added to the pressure, analysts said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 689.81 points or 0.83 per cent to settle at 82,500.47. During the day, it fell 748.03 points or 0.89 per cent to 82,442.25. As many as 2,450 stocks declined while 1,557 advanced and 158 remained unchanged on the BSE. Similarly, the 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 205.40 points or 0.81 per cent to 25,149.85. On the weekly front, the BSE benchmark dropped 932.42 points or 1.11 per cent, and the Nifty tanked 311.15 points or 1.22 per cent.

“While weak European market cues and negative US Dow Futures weighed on sentiment, the disappointing start to earnings season by software major TCS cautioned investors about the sluggish global demand scenario that led to heavy selling in IT, telecom, auto, realty and oil & gas stocks,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

From the Sensex firms, Tata Consultancy Services declined 3.46 per cent after reporting its June quarter earnings. The country’s largest IT services company on Thursday reported a 6 per cent growth in June quarter net profit at Rs 12,760 crore, helped by a jump in non-core income even as revenues grew at a tepid pace. The rupee revenue grew 1.3 per cent to Rs 63,437 crore during the quarter.

Still, it was down by over 3 per cent on a constant currency basis, as the company faced headwinds in its major markets amid a winding down of the BSNL deal, which helped it in recent quarters. Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Titan, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance, Reliance Industries, Trent, Infosys and HDFC Bank were among the other major laggards from the pack.