Sensex ends 770 points lower, Nifty below 17,600; HDFC, Infosys top losers

The benchmark indices ended sharply lower as selling pressure intensified amid profit-booking in IT and financials. The 30-share BSE index ended 770 points lower at 58,788.02, and the broader NSE Nifty ended 219.8 points to 17,560.20.
 
ITC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack ahead of the Q3 show. Maruti Suzuki, Asian Paints, SBI and Titan were the other top gainers.
 
HDFC, in contrast, was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, shedding over 3 per cent, followed by Infosys, L&T, Kotak Bank, Bajaj Finserv and Tech Mahindra.
 
"Benchmark Indices broke three days winning momentum and ended on a negative note. All the sectorial indices witnessed selling pressure with Oil & Gas, IT, and capital goods were among the sectors that got worst hit today. Indian markets are reacting to the selling seen in Dow futures and NASDAQ futures. The selling was led by shares of Meta, as company posted weaker than expected results," said Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities.
 
"On the technical front 17,500 and 17,700 are immediate support and resistance in Nifty 50, respectively. For Bank Nifty 38,800 and 39,300 are immediate support and resistance, respectively," he added.
 
In other Asian markets, Tokyo closed in the red, while Seoul was positive.
 
Several Asian markets, including China and Hong Kong, were shut for the Lunar New Year holidays.
 
Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a mixed note in mid-session deals. International oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.65 per cent to $ 88.89 per barrel.
 
India’s services sector output was recorded at 51.5 in January, a significant dip from December’s 55.5. IHS Markit in its report stated that the headline figure pointed to the slowest expansion in the current six-month sequence of growth. Meanwhile, the composite PMI output fell from 56.4 in December to 53.0 in January, the slowest rate of expansion in the current six-month period of growth.
 
"The escalation of the pandemic and reintroduction of curfews had a detrimental impact on growth across the service sector. Both new business and output rose at slight rates that were the weakest in six months. Concerns about how long the current wave of COVID-19 will last dampened business confidence and caused job shedding. Firms were also alarmed about price pressures,” said Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at IHS Markit.
 
Relentless foreign capital outflows also weighed on sentiment, traders said. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 183.60 crore on February 2, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 425.96 crore, as per provisional data available on NSE.

(With inputs from PTI)