Sensex, Nifty Extend Losses Led By Declines In IT Shares

The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes extended losses led by declines in heavyweights like Infosys, HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Hindustan Unilever. The Sensex fell as much as 279 points to hit an intraday low of 40,295.83 and the Nifty 50 index hit an intraday low of 11,916. The benchmarks had opened lower and extended losses on the back of IT and banking shares.

As of 12:11 pm, the Sensex traded 227 points lower at 40,347 and the Nifty 50 index declined 65 points or 0.55 per cent to 11,903.

Five of 11 sector gauges compiled by National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty Information Technology index's nearly 2 per cent decline. Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services indices were also trading with a negative bias.

On the other hand, Nifty Media index was top gainer, up 2.25 per cent.

Mid- and small-cap shares were trading on a flat note as the Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 0.1 per cent while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 0.1 per cent.

Bharti Infratel was top loser in the Nifty 50 basket of shares, the stock fell 5.33 per cent to Rs 228.80. Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, UPL, TCS, Bajaj Auto and Cipla were also among the losers.

On the flipside, NTPC, Sun Pharma, Power Grid, Yes Bank, Reliance Industries, ITC and Coal India were among the gainers.