Sensex down nearly 300 points, Infosys up 5%

Markets opened lower amid weak global cues but Infosys gained on the back of upbeat earnings

Indian stocks opened with a gap-down amid weak global cues but encouraging set of second quarter earnings from Infosys helped offset some of the losses in early trades.

At 9:30AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 278 points at 26,420 and the Nifty dropped 68 points to trade at 7,892.

In the broader markets, the mid and smallcap indices slipped 0.8% each, almost in line with the benchmark index.

Global Markets

Asian shares drooped and oil prices fell to two-year lows on Friday after weak German export data raised fears that a recession at the heart of Europe could slow down the global economy.

Japan's Nikkei share average fell 1.1% in early trade while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.8%.

Concerns about global economic growth hit oil prices hard, with Brent oil prices falling to $89.24 a barrel, its lowest level since mid-2012.

Overnight, in the US markets, the S&P 500 on Thursday posted its largest percentage decline in six months on concerns about the strength of the global economy and its effect on corporate earnings.

German exports in August fell the most since January 2009, and reports earlier in the week showed steep drops in industrial orders and output. Expectations of a more dovish Fed had triggered a rally in stocks on Wednesday, but those gains disappeared in Thursday's trading.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 1.97%, at 16,659; the S&P 500 dropped 2.07%, to 1,928, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.02%, to 4,378.

Sectors & Stocks

All the sectoral indices, except IT index, was in red. The IT index gained nearly 2% on the back on better-than-expected Infosys numbers. Metal, Capital Goods and Auto indices were among the top sectoral losers.

Infosys was up nearly 5% after it reported a 7% rise in net profit at Rs 3,096 crore for the second quarter of 2014-15 on sequential basis. It was Rs 2,886 crore in the first quarter.

Today's earnings are the first reported by the IT major after it appointed Vishal Sikka as its first nonfounder chief executive, who took over on August 1.

The board declared a dividend of Rs 30 per share and a 1:1 bonus. The consolidated revenue rose 4.4% to Rs 13,342 crore from Rs 12,770 crore in the previous quarter.

However, HDFC, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, ITC and Reliance Industries were among the top Sensex losers.

Market breadth was weak with 1,029 losers and 379 gainers on the BSE.