NSE Nifty drops below 7,300-mark; Infosys tanks 8%

Mumbai: Shares were hammered on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), whose benchmark index tanked 94 points and fell below the key 7,300-level on frantic selling and a slump in Infosys stock. The 50-share index Nifty came off highs, logged on the back of election-related euphoria, on the day of expiry of monthly derivative contracts.

The IT segment bore the brunt of nearly 8 per cent drop in index heavyweight Infosys after the resignation of its President B G Srinivas, considered a top contender for the CEO post at the Bangalore-based infotech giant. Selling by FIIs since the last four session also dampened investor sentiment. Barring pharma, auto and some PSU banks, which saw mild buying interest, shares of mid and small-cap companies, banking, energy, FMCG, infra, metal and Realty encountered intense selling.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 286.54 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. Most of the Asian stocks ended mixed. The Nifty resumed lower at 7,316.60 and traded between a high of 7,325.40 and a low of 7,224.40 before ending at 7,235.65, a fall of 94.00 points, or 1.28 per cent, over the previous close. Metal major Jindal Steel fell 3.40 per cent, IDFC 2.97 per cent, HCL Tech 2.83 per cent and Wipro lost 2.81 per cent.

Other major losers were Ambuja Cement, Cairn, Coal India, NMDC and ONGC. Turnover in the cash segment climbed to Rs 23,723.49 crore from Rs 19,298.88 crore yesterday. A total of 12,627.43 lakh shares changed hands in 89,06,661 trades, while market capitalisation stood at Rs 82,23,013 crore.