Sensex takes a 257 points hit; Infosys biggest loser

It was yet another bad day for Indian markets with the Sensex losing 257 points and the Nifty falling 71 points. Global cues, Infosys results spoiled the market mood so much that even improved IIP nos were ignored. Major Headlines: Infosys slips 10% after posting Q1 results IIP for May at 2.4% vs 0.1% in April After Petrol, its turn for diesel prices Earnings Season Shocker: Infosys disappoints; stock plunges 10% Indian Indices Market mood was punctured in trade today with benchmark indices trading in red throughout the day. IT giant Infosys played the spoilsport and tumbled as much as 10% during market hours owing to selling pressure after the software major slashed its dollar revenue guidance for FY13 to 5% against its earlier estimate of 8-10%. Owing to this, relentless profit booking was seen in the IT and technology shares, which led the Indian markets to close in the negative zone. The markets witnessed immense selling pressure throughout the day owing to global cues and Infosys' fall so much that the sentiments didn't get a boost even after the announcement of good IIP numbers. The industrial output improved in month of May but sadly it was ignored by the market. Movement of the Indian indices for the day: The Indian markets rang the opening bell today on a negative note and remained on the same track till the end of the day due to weak global cues. The Nifty and Sensex remained lower throughout the day by more than 1%, though it showed some recovery and drifted a little upwards from the day's low, but still closed in the red zone. IT giant Infosys' first quarter numbers and FY13 guidance dampened the mood of investors today. Further, in the afternoon session poor opening of European indices weighed on the market sentiments and Sensex touched the intraday low at 17,181.17. The broader indices were also in red, heading towards a weak market breadth. Profit booking led the markets to close the session lower in trade today. All-round selling also led the equities to trade with heavy losses. All the sectors closed in the red zone in today's trading session except realty and oil & gas. The major losers in Index heavyweights were - Infy, L&T, HDFC Bank, TCS, Bharti Airtel, ITC and ICICI Bank. The Sensex fell sharply today and touched 17233 which was the biggest fall since June 1, while Nifty fell below the key 5,250 mark. At the end of day, the BSE Midcap index declined 0.66%, while the BSE Smallcap index was down by 0.68%. The overall market breadth at close was negative. The Sensex closed at 17,232.55, down by 256.59 points and the Nifty fell 71.05 points to close at 5,235. The only positive news of the day:- Index of industrial production for May 2012 improved to 2.4% as against negative 0.9% in the previous month. The government has revised its April output from 0.1% (provisional). However, the growth in major sectors like capital goods and mining came in negative. This positive news although was completely ignored by the markets. Following are the stocks/ sectors which were in news today:- 1. Software bellwether Infosys plummeted nearly 10% due to lower than expected numbers in first quarter of FY13 and weaker than expected guidance for financial year 2012-13. Its rival TCS will announce its Q1 numbers today after market hours and was down 1.80% in trade today. Wipro tumbled 3.98% while Infosys plunged 8.15%. 2. On the flip side, PSU Oil & Gas companies outperformed today- ONGC gained 1.4% and GAIL was up 0.6%. HPCL, IOC and BPCL rose 1-3% after sources from the oil ministry said diesel price is likely to be hiked after Presidential polls. 3. Aviation stocks jumped on reports that the government is considering relief measures for the industry after the presidential elections later this month. SpiceJet ended up by 1.34% and Kingfisher Airlines was up by 0.58%. 4. SBI will meet investors for an overseas bond issue aimed at raising between $1 billion and $2 billion. The stock closed 0.04% higher on this news. Market sentiment The market breadth stood in favor of declines. Of the 2917 stocks traded on the BSE, 1174 (40.25%) rose, 1631 (55.91%) fell and 112 (3.84%) stocks remained unchanged. Sectoral & stock screening Among the 13 sectoral indices 11 sectors closed in red zone and only two sectors closed in green zone. Gainer: BSE Realty up by 0.94% and BSE Oil&Gas rose by 0.27%. The topmost Losers: BSE IT which dropped 5.11%, BSE Teck declined 4.43%, BSE CD fell 1.78%, BSE CG slipped 1.45%. Among 'A' group stocks, top three gainers were- United Spirits which surged 6.14%, Indiabulls Real Estate advanced 4.13%, Unitech gained 4.12%. Top three losers were- Infosys which dropped 8.15%, Hexaware Technologies declined 4.47%, and Ashok Leyland fell by 4.26%. Global signals Asian markets slipped on Thursday (July 12, 2012) as a surprise rate cut from South Korea and an unexpected drop in Australian employment deepened worries about global economic growth. European markets also fell on Thursday, taking their cue from poor overnight showings by Wall Street and Asia after minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's June meeting dampened hopes for more risk-asset-boosting stimulus in the near term. US Stock index futures pointed to a weaker opening at the Wall Street on Thursday. Market Outlook: Data to be released in the US on Thursday: Jobless Claims, Import Export Prices and Treasury Budget