Stock Market Updates: Sensex Down Over 600 pts, Nifty Tests 19,850; Infosys Falls 9% – News18

Sensex Today: The S&P BSE Sensex dropped 670 points in early deals to quote at 66,900 levels, while the Nifty50 tumbled to 19,800-mark, down 175 points. Weak Q1FY24 results by Infosys pulled the benchmark indices down on Friday, upending the strong bull run seen over the last few sessions.

That apart, HCL Tech, Wipro, Tech M, TCS, HUL, Ultratech Cement, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, and HDFC Bank were the other top laggards, declining up to 3.6 per cent.

However, L&T, SBI, Kotak Bank, Power Grid, Axis Bank, and Tata Motors added up to 2.6 per cent, lending some support to the frontline indices.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices fell 0.3 per cent and 0.07 per cent, respectively.

Among sectors, the Nifty IT Index crashed 4.5 per cent, followed by the Nifty Pharma and FMCG indices (down 0.3 per cent each).

Shares of Infosys tanked 8 per cent in early deals after the IT bellwether cut its FY24 outlook to 1-3.5 per cent in constant currency from 4-7 per cent it had guided in the previous quarter. The company, thereby, invited a slew of downgrades by various brokerages as they see the company underperforming the industry in FY24.

Global Cues

Asian shares fell on Friday after Tesla and Netflix weighed on U.S. tech shares after their earnings reports, while the dollar and Treasury yields held their gains ahead of an action-packed week that could see the end of the U.S. tightening cycle.

Tokyo stocks opened lower on Friday after US high-tech shares dropped on selloffs in Tesla and Netflix, even as the Dow rose for the ninth straight session.The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.64 percent, or 208.31 points, at 32,282.21 in early trade, while the broader Topix index lost 0.21 percent, or 4.85 points, to 2,256.05.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell on Thursday, weighed down by drops in Tesla and Netflix following their quarterly results, but the Dow advanced for a ninth straight day thanks to gains in Johnson & Johnson following a strong annual forecast.