Sensex, Nifty post worst drop in nearly 8 weeks; Infosys down by 5%

Mumbai: Logging their worst drop in 8 weeks, benchmark Sensex plunged 339 points and Nifty slipped 100 points on Monday on sharp losses in Infosys, where co-founders sold about USD 1 billion worth shares, and other bluechips.

Shares of heavyweight Infosys fell by 4.88 per cent as families of four co-founders sold shares worth Rs 6,484 crore in the country's second largest software services firm. Its peers TCS and Wipro also witnessed selling pressure.

Private sector lenders HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank lost about one and half per cent each. Metals pack, including Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco and Tata Steel, slipped 2-3.6 per cent on reports of weak trade data of China, the world's biggest consumer of industrial metals.

Domestic market was also affected by concerns over slowing foreign capital inflows as strong US growth may prompt the US Federal reserve to speed up rate hikes, traders said. Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 109.45 crore last Friday, as per provisional data. The 30-share index Sensex resumed lower at 28,433.00 and hovered in a range of 28,494.85 and 28,097.12 before ending at 28,119.40, showing a loss of 338.07 points or 1.19 per cent. This its biggest single-session loss since October 16 when it had dropped 349.99 points or 1.33 per cent.

Similarly, NSE 50-share Nifty fell 100.05 points, or 1.17 per cent, to finish below key 8,500-mark at 8,438.25. This is also its sharpest fall since 115.8-point drop on October 16.

"The decline was led by the IT counters as sentiments got a hit after some of the founders of IT major Infosys decided to sell USD 1.1 billion shares. Further, profit booking in capital goods, consumer durables and banking stocks also pushed the benchmark in red," said Jayant Manglik, President-retail distribution, Religare Securities.

Asian stocks ended mixed amid disappointing data from Japan and China. Key benchmark indices in Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea dropped by 0.21 per cent to 0.80 per cent while indices in Japan, China and Hong Kong rose by 0.21 per cent to 2.81 per cent.