IT shares drag markets on weak US manufacturing data

IT exporters are leading the decine after weaker-than-expected US manufacturing data

Benchmark share indices were down nearly 1% in the first hour of trade with IT exporters leading the decine after weaker-than-expected US manufacturing data.

At 10:25AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 175 points at 20,034 after hitting a low of 19,963 and the 50-share Nifty was down 45 points at 5,957 after touching an intra-day low of 5,933.

U.S. manufacturing in January expanded at its slowest pace in eight months as new order growth slumped the most in 33 years, while spending on construction projects barely rose in December. The Institure of Supply Management's index for January declined sharply to 51.3 compared with 56.5 December.

Asian stocks tracked sharp fall in overnight trades on Wall Street. The Nikkei was nearing a three-month low and was down 3.6% at 14,116. Singapore's Straits Times was down 0.6% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 2.4%.

The rupee was trading weak against the US dollar at Rs 62.71 compared with the previous close of 62.58. Emerging markets are under pressure after data showing US manufacturing activity slowed sharply raises risk aversion. The dollar index was up 0.15% against a basket of six major currencies.

All sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in negative terrain. BSE IT index was the top loser among the sectoral indices down 2.5% followed by Realty, Metal, Oil and Gas, Bankex, Capital Goods.

IT shares which had remained range bound in the previous sessions witnessed profit taking after weaker-than-expected manufacturing data in the US. Infosys, TCS and Wipro down 1.6-3% each. All these companies earn most of their revenues from exports to the US.

Among the rate sensitive shares financials were among the top losers with HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and AXis Bank were down 0.6-1% each. The Bank Nifty rebounded from its day's lows and was trading marginally above 10,000 at 10,035.

Other Sensex losers include, M&M, ITC and index heavyweight Reliance Industries. However, SBI, HUL, Hero MotoCorp and Tata Power were gainers in the Sensex as of now.

Among other shares, Jaiprakash Power Ventures has slipped more than 5% after the company reported a net loss of Rs 153.05 crore in Q3 December 2013, higher than net loss of Rs 97.58 crore in Q3 December 2012.

The BSE Mid-cap index and Small-cap index were down 0.8% each.

Market breadth weakened further with 1091losers and 559 gainers on the BSE.