Equities opened lower but soon bounced back as investors bought IT shares. Wipro opened sharply lower but bounced back as traders bought at lower levels. Before trade started IT bellwether Infosys reported 14.5 per cent jump in Oct-Dec net profit at Rs 1,641 crore against Rs 1,432 crore for the September quarter. Income for the quarter ended December stood at Rs 5,786 crore versus Rs 5,418 crore in the immediately preceding quarter.
Later, markets turned volatile tracking Asian peers. Poor opening of European markets made matters worse and the benchmarks slipped deeper. But short covering towards end of session pulled back indices.
“Closing was pretty strong and upsurge in last half hour of trade indicates decent opening in coming session. Infosys results were better and things look good for the company,” said Sandeep Shenoy, head equities, PINC Research.
Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex closed at 9071.36, down 38.69 points or 0.42 per cent from Monday’s close. The index breached the 9000 mark to touch a low of 8992.92 and later a high of 9261.
National Stock Exchange’s Nifty ended at 2744.95, down 28.15 points or 1.02 per cent. The broader index touched an intra-day low of 2720.80 and high of 2802.60.
Market breadth was negative on the BSE with 1,562 declines and 848 advances. The BSE Midcap Index was down 1.43 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index fell 1.51 per cent.
Infosys Technologies (6.36%), Wipro (6.05%), Ranbaxy Laboratories (4.57%), Tata Power (3.40%) and ACC (2.47%) were the major Sensex gainers.
Reliance Communications (-6.59%), HDFC (-4.21%), Tata Motors (-4.11%), ONGC (-3.47%), Jaiprakash Associates (3.39%) and Hindalco (-3.09%) were the top Sensex losers.
Broader markets were hit more on fears of corporate governance issues at Siemens, Rolta India and Pyramid Saimira. Apart from these, ADAG group companies Reliance Capital, Reliance Communications, RNRL and Reliance Power also fell sharply.
Siemens took a severe hit after a couple of brokerages turned whistle-blower against the India-listed arm of the German engineering and technology major on its disclosure standards, once again raising the issue of corporate governance in Indian companies. The company’s share was hammered 11.69 per cent to Rs 211.10.
Software firm Rolta India Ltd fell nearly 60 per cent on speculation its creditors had sold shares pledged with them by the founders, but pared losses to 17.7 per cent at Rs 87.15 after the company denied the rumours and said all its business and operations were in order.
Promoter of Pyramid Saimira, P S Saminathan, sold nearly 6.04% stake for Rs 6.42 crore, reducing his holding in the media and entertainment firm to about 18%. After the off-market transaction, Saminathan's holding in Pyramid Saimira has come down to 17.99% from 24.03% earlier. In another disclosure to the bourse, Pyramid Saimira said another promoter Uma Saminathan had offloaded her entire 0.54% holding in the three months to December 2008 through off-market deals.
Last week, the company had said another promoter Nirmal Kotecha had sold nearly 10% in the company between November and December last year. The stake sale follows promoters’ seeking a CBI probe into alleged manipulation in the company's stock by its competitors. Pyramid Saimira shares fell 4.92 per cent to close at Rs 33.80 on the BSE.
European stocks were in the red following weak Asian markets and fears of disappointing earnings season. Shares of metals, energy and oil companies led the fall. US markets too are likely to open lower indicates stock futures. Dow Jones futures were down 0.73 per cent, S&P 500 futures fell 0.92 per cent and Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 1.04 per cent.
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