Sensex dives over 600 points, Nifty below 19,850; Rs 1.5L cr investor wealth lost; Infosys, KPIT Tech crack up to 9%

Indian equity benchmarks fell sharply in opening deals on Friday, taking cues from the global markets. The domestic indices halted their 6-day winning run today, dragged by technology and consumer stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex pack fell 636 points or 0.94 per cent to trade at 66,936, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 159 points or 0.79 per cent down to trade at 19,821. Mid- and small-cap shares were mixed as Nifty Midcap 100 fell 0.29 per cent and small-cap rose 0.29 per cent.

Investor wealth, as suggested by the BSE m-cap, fell by Rs 1.54 lakh crore to Rs 302.50 lakh crore today compared with a valuation of Rs 304.04 lakh crore recorded in the previous session.

On the global front, Asian equities declined, following weakness in Wall Street overnight.

Back home, IT stocks were in focus today after Infosys halved its full-year revenue growth outlook, citing cuts in tech spending. Infosys reported a 10.90 per cent rise in profit in the June quarter post-market hours on Thursday.

Investors also await the June-quarter earnings of top Nifty 50 firms, including Reliance Industries (RIL).

"Barring the US, India is the most expensive market in the world now. At high valuations, some negative trigger can lead to sharp correction. But in the near-term the party may continue," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought Rs 3,371 crore of Indian equities on a net basis during the previous session, while domestic investors sold Rs 193 crore of shares, as per provisional NSE data.

10 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty IT, Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty FMCG were underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 3.09 per cent, 0.77 per cent and 0.25 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, Infosys was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 9.47 per cent to trade at Rs 1,311.60. HCL Tech, Wipro, Hindustan Unilever and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) fell up to 1.93 per cent.

In contrast, L&T, Divi's Labs, SBI, ONGC and Britannia Industries climbed up to 2.89 per cent.

The overall market breadth was slightly positive as 1,475 shares were advancing while 1,475 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, Reliance, HUL, TCS, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, HCL Tech and Wipro were among the top laggards.

In addition, KPIT Tech, Dalmia Bharat, Allembic Pharma, Polycab India, Oberoi Reatlty and Mastek tanked up to 4.98 per cent.

On the flip side, IndiaMart, RVNL, Suzlon Energy, Vaibhav Global, IRFC and Tanla Platforms jumped up to 6.67 per cent.

Nifty outlook

"Nifty breezed past the 19,950-objective lined up yesterday, with no visible signs of exhaustion yet. The only possible signs of vulnerability is that the last 200-point ascent has unfolded without as much volume as that seen around 19,770. We will play this construct by maintaining an upside view, as long as dips are held above 19910. However, inability to push beyond 19,970 on the bounce, or a direct slippage past 19,880, may sign weakness, but not necessarily a drop all the way to 19,770. Prospects of 20,050-20,120 in the coming days will be alive as long as Nifty manages a close above 19,880-19,910," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

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