Nifty falls to 5,250, Infosys down 4%
"We do not expect meaningful improvement in RIL’s key businesses over the next 9-12 months and hence, retain our REDUCE rating on the stock," Kotak Securities said in a note.
The BSE Sensex slipped to the lowest point of the day post noon Monday. At 12.16 pm, it declined 106 points or 0.6% at 17,268 while the broader Nifty index traded 36 points lower at 5,254.
The IT index (-2.3%) on the BSE was the worst performer, mainly on the back of a sharp fall in Infosys (-4%). Infosys came under selling pressure after the company said it was being investigated in the US over erroneous employee verification forms.
Infosys was the biggest drag on the Sensex, leading to a downside of 52 index points. All 10 IT stocks on the BSE IT index traded lower. TCS (-0.25%) also slipped into the red ahead of reporting Q4 numbers today.
Power and realty stocks also declined, falling over 1.5%. DLF (-2.7%) saw selling pressure as the company will no longer be a part of the 30-stock Sensex index from June 11.
State Bank of India (-1.8%), India's biggest lender, slipped after the company announced a rate cut in select loans.
Energy stocks saw buying interest. Reliance Industries (1.1%) shares were among the top Nifty gainers. RIL, India's biggest firm by market cap, had reported its Q4 numbers Friday. Cairn India (0.4%), a Vedanta Group energy firm, also traded higher on the back of Q4 earnings.
Government backed steel major SAIL (2.6%) and Tata Steel (1.1%) were the top Nifty gainers.
The market breadth turned negative and only 37% stocks managed to advance on the broader BSE 500 index.
Asian stocks also extended weakness. The Hang Seng (-0.9%) led the declines while Japan's Nikkei index fell 0.20%.