Sensex slumps to nearly 3-week low; top IT cos tumble

The BSE Sensex today tumbled by 208 points to nearly three-week low of 22,277.23, with IT and capital goods stocks coming under severe selling pressure after dimming hopes of rate cut, fund outflows and below normal monsoon forecast hit the investor sentiment.
Profit-booking and selling pressure are likely to continue after the recent rally and markets may witness volatility amid election time and earning season, said Nidhi Saraswat, Senior Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio.
The BSE Sensex moved in a narrow range till afternoon deals, but later tumbled on profit-booking. The 30-share index finally ended the day at 22,277.23, a fall of 207.70 points or 0.92 per cent. This is the third day in a row the key index is settling the day with losses.

The 50-issue Nifty of the NSE also plunged by 57.80 points or 0.86 per cent to end at 6,675.30.
All the three top IT company ended as big losers of the day, ahead of the release of TCS's fourth quarter earnings. Infosys, which yesterday gave a disappointing guidance for the next fiscal, lost 3.19 per cent. Wipro was down 2.90 per cent while TCS closed lower by 2.51 per cent.
India's largest IT company TCS after market hours announced that its Jan-Mar quarter profit rose 48.2 per cent to Rs 5,357.61 crore.

Tata Power at 3.61 per cent was the biggest loser of the day. State-owned power equipment maker Bhel lost 3.17 per cent, L&T 2.87 per cent.

Hero MotoCorp at 2.44 per cent, NTPC 2.27 per cent, HDFC 1.93 per cent, Dr Reddy's Lab 1.48 per cent and Cipla 0.99 per cent were the other big losers.
Brokers said a private weather forecast of below normal monsoon in June-September also had a negative impact on the market.
Capital outflows for the second day in a row also hit the sentiment. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) pulled out Rs 21.63 crore yesterday, as per provisional data with stock exchanges.