Sensex falls for 4th day; IT pack nervous ahead of Infy result

The BSE benchmark Sensex today extended its losing run to the fourth day by ending 12.45 points down at a fresh four-month low of 18,437.78 on selling in IT stocks led by Infosys and TCS, ahead of earnings season.
The 30-share Sensex resumed higher at 18,455.80 and showed signs of firming up only to decline afterwards. It settled at 18,437.78, recording a modest loss of 12.45 points or 0.07 per cent from its last weekend's level. The index has now lost 603.17 points or 3.17 per cent in four sessions.
Similarly, the NSE 50-share index Nifty also moved down by 10.30 points or 0.19 per cent to end at 5,542.95.

"Markets remained highly range-bound with negative bias but some stocks saw buying at lower levels. This week is highly crucial in deciding near term trend as IIP and inflation data will be released," said Rakesh Goel, Senior Vice President, Bonanza Portfolio.
Among Sensex gainers, Bhel closed 2.6 per cent up on rising order inflows. Shares of Bharti Airtel gained 3.90 per cent to end at Rs 281.20 after the Supreme Court allowed 3G roaming pacts to continue till next date of hearing.
Overall, 13 Sensex stocks declined including SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC, L&T, Jindal Steel and Sterlite Industries.

The IT sectoral index suffered the most by losing 0.98 per cent to 6,664.93 points after Infosys fell 1.07 per cent to ahead of Friday earnings. TCS and Wipro also ended lower.

The capital goods sector index also hit hard as it lost 0.87 per cent to 8,836.85 on L&T sliding 1.78 per cent to Rs 1,324.80. Banking sector dropped by 0.79 per cent to 12,642.35 points as state-run SBI ended 1.09 per cent down at Rs 2,033.95 and ICICI Bank fell 0.92 per cent.
Asian stocks, barring Japan, dropped after reports said China saw more infections from a deadly new strain of bird flu. Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea fell up to 2.39 per cent. However, Japan's Nikkei Average rose 2.80 per cent.