Sensex closes down on profit taking in IT; TCS declines 5%

The Indian stock market failed to hold ground in subdued trades today and slipped due to profit taking in a few software shares.

The Sensex closed at 21,063, down just nearly 1 percent and the Nifty at 6,261, down 0.9 percent.

“The Nifty is pushing against 6330 resistance. A move above 6330, even if it is intra-day, should trigger a sustained rally. Bank Nifty saw a minor decline today and prices closed lower. Short term trend is up and prices have a strong support on downside. Trend is very strong on upside in CNX IT,” market analyst Sudarshan Sukhani told CNBC-TV18.

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TCS was one of the biggest losers of the day, ending at Rs 2220, down 5.6 percent. Investors were responding tolower than expected revenues and operating profit margin after yesterday’s Q3 results announcement.Even operating margins declined marginally to 29.7 percent from 30.17 percent during the same period last year due to rupee appreciation and lower utilisation (due to holiday season).

HDFC Bank closed at Rs 672, down 0.19 percent, off the intra-day lows after the bank postedstable earnings for October-December. HDFC Bank reported a 25 percent rise in net profit to Rs 2,326 crore.

ITC ended the day at Rs 324, down 0.26 percent despite the country’s largest cigarette manufacturer posting a 16 percent increase in quarterly profits to Rs 2,385 crore.

Coal India shares fell almost 10 percent to Rs 272 after the stock went ex-dividend today. The company had announced Rs 29 per share dividend.

Ahead of their third quarter results later today, Wipro closed at Rs 552, down a little over 3 percent and Reliance Industries ended the day at Rs 884.5, down 0.07 percent.

With inputs from Reuters