Bellwether Blues

Indices finished lower for the second straight day on Monday. This was led by selling pressure in technology stocks after the quarterly results of Infosys Technologies belied hopes of a strong earnings growth for the sector.

However, traders turned to pharmaceutical and bank stocks hoping for strong earnings. After trading in a range of 32.68 points, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensex closed with a loss of 31.83 points at 3,327.16. The Nifty index shed 6.50 points to close at 1,073.75.