Sensex drops 340 points ahead of Aug IIP; Infosys zooms 7%

Benchmark shares indices shaved off most of the previous session gains amid weak global cues even as Infosys surged nearly 7% on the back of better-than-expected second  quarter earnings and its new chief executive Vishal Sikka's vision to re-emerge as the IT sector's bellwether through consistent profitable growth.

Further, investors have turned cautious ahead of the August industrial production data due later during the day.

The 30-share Sensex plunged 340 points at 26,297 and the 50-share Nifty dropped 101 points to trade at 7,860.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices slipped by nearly 1%, almost in line with the benchmark index.

The market breadth in BSE ended weak with 1,908 declining and 998 shares advancing.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 20.89 crore on Thursday.

At 15:45, the rupee was trading at 61.25 against the US currency, on sustained bouts of dollar demand from importers amid weak domestic equities and bullish greenback overseas.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian shares dropped while Brent crude oil prices tumbled to their lowest since 2010 on Friday after weak German export data raised fears that Europe's economic woes could drag down the global economy.   

Japan's Nikkei share average fell for a fourth straight day on Friday, hitting a two-month low on concern about the global economy, and falling crude oil prices hurt oil shares.

The Nikkei share average ended 1.2% down at 15,300.55, the lowest closing since Aug. 13. For the week, the benchmark dropped 2.6%. Japanese markets are closed on Monday for a national holiday.

The broader Topix fell 1.4% to 1,243.09, and the Nikkei Index 400 declined 1.4% to 11,306.62.

INFOSYS Q2 RESULTS

Infosys, India’s second largest information technology (IT) services company, today cheered investors by posting a strong growth for July-September 2015 (Q2FY15), beating estimates on most fronts, as well as announcing a bonus share issue. Additionally, in line with expectations, the company left its revenue growth guidance for FY15 unchanged at 7-9%.

To investors’ surprise, Infosys announced a one-for-one bonus share issue. Several analysts term this move as “Sikka’s gift for the Street”. Further, the company has declared an interim dividend of Rs 30 per equity share as compared to Rs 20 in the previous year.

Infosys was the top gainer, rising nearly 7% to end at Rs 3,845 on the BSE after the company reported a better-than-expected consolidated net profit at Rs 3,096 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2014 (Q2).

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE Metal index plunged by over 4% followed by counters like Auto, FMCG, Banks, Capital Goods, Power and Realty, all slipping between 1-2%. However, BSE IT index gained by nearly 2%.

The main losers on the Sensex were Tata Motors, Hindalco, Sesa Sterlite, Tata Steel, M&M, ITC, HDFC, Bharti Airtel and HUL.

Shares of metal companies ended lower by up to 6% on the NSE on the back of swift retreat in Chinese demand for iron ore and coal which in turn led the global iron ore prices to touch near five-year lows and local coal prices to their weakest in six years.

Tata Steel, Sesa Sterlite, Jindal Steel, Hindalco, Jindal Steel, JSW Steel, NMDC and Coal India were down 1-5% on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Tata Motors was the top Sensex loser, down over 5%. Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC's (JLR), subsidiary of Tata Motors, outlook to "Positive" from "stable" on continued strong operational performance.

Cigarette maker and index heavyweight ITC lost over 3% as investors are not betting on the stock on fears of weaker sales and profits from the cigarette division.

On the gaining side, BHEL continued to benefit after bagging Ennore supercritical power project. The stock gained nearly 1%.

Hero Motocorp gained nearly 1% after the company launched two 100cc bikes priced at Rs 48,650 and Rs 51,550 each ahead of the festive season.

Pharma majors Sun Pharma, Cipla and Dr Reddy's Labs along with RIL were some of the notable Sensex gainers up between 0.1-0.6% each.

Among other shares, Aban Offshore soared 11% to Rs 630, bouncing back 15% from intra-day low on NSE, after the company said it has received orders worth of Rs 1,114 crore from state-owned oil exploration and production firm Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for deployment of jack-up rig.

Shares of aviation companies like Jet Airways (India) and Spicejet rallied by up to 9% in otherwise weak market on back of heavy volumes on the bourses.

Cairn India fell 4% as HSBC downgrades the stock to "underweight" from "neutral" and says production from key oil field in Rajasthan will peak in fiscal year 2016.