Sensex dives 888 points as Infy pulls IT down

MUMBAI: A sharply lower closing for the tech-heavy Nasdaq index on Thursday, along with heavy selling in Infosys on the back of its drastic cut in revenue growth guidance, pulled the sensex down by 888 points or 1. 3% on Friday to close at 66,684.

Since a sharp cut in revenue guidance by one of the technology bellwethers was seen as an industry-wide phenomenon, other stocks from the sector also closed with heavy losses. As a result, the IT index on BSE closed 4. 4% lower. On the NSE, the Nifty too lost 234 points or 1. 2% to close at 19,745 points. Along with heavy selling in the IT pack, a slide in index-heavyweight Reliance Industries also impacted the two leading indices, exchange data showed.
Infosys’ share price was under stress due to the sharp cut in revenue growth guidance. The magnitude of the cut was evenmore surprising after announcements of mega-deals recently and a strong project execution pipeline, Sumit Pokharna of Kotak Securities said.

Foreign funds, which were net buyers for the last several months, turned net sellers on Friday with a net outflow figure of almost Rs 2,000 crore, BSE data showed. Domestic funds, on the other hand, were net buyers at Rs 1,291 crore.
The day’s slide also left investors poorer by about Rs 1. 8 lakh crore with BSE’smarket capitalisation now at Rs 301. 6 lakh crore.
In the US, technology shares eased back from a potential rebound on Friday. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were little changed after earlier gains attempting to claw back losses in the previous session on disappointing results from and Netflix.
The rupee depreciated 5 paise to close at 81. 94 against the US dollar on Friday, weighed down by a rebound in the American currency and firm crude oil prices in global markets.