Nifty down another 23 points on selling; IT stocks hammered

The stock market logged losses for a second day in a volatile session as selling in key IT stocks dragged the benchmark Nifty down by 23 points on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) today.
Subdued sentiment due to weakness in global markets over geopolitical concerns related to the Ukraine conflict was further aggravated after Cognizant Technology's lower revenue growth guidance.
The US-based IT major, which has a major presence in India, yesterday lowered its 2014 revenue guidance to 14 per cent from 16.5 per cent earlier. The development triggered sell-off in IT stocks.
Profit-booking was also witnessed in banking, FMCG, pharma, auto and metal counters along with shares from mid and small-cap companies. Buying in energy scrips and some stock- specific action helped the market to cut losses.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 283.87 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from stock exchanges.
The 50-share Nifty fluctuated between a high of 7,708.95 and low of 7,630.40 before ending at 7,649.25, a loss of 22.80 points, or 0.3 per cent, over the last close.

State-owned PNB lost 2.45 per cent and Bank of Baroda slipped 1.59 per cent. In the IT space, Infosys was down 1.92 per cent, HCL Tech 1.90 per cent and TCS dipped 1.47 per cent.
Among key smart movers, ACC gained 2.97 per cent, Jindal Steel 2.82 per cent, Tata Steel 0.96 per cent, Ambuja Cement 0.96 per cent and Coal India was up 0.86 per cent.

Turnover in the cash segment dropped to Rs 13,735.24 crore from Rs 15,650.28 crore yesterday. A total of 7,324.49 lakh shares changed hands in 59,94,774 trades, while total market capitalisation stood at Rs 87,91,448 crore.