Sensex Turns Choppy, Nifty Near 8,350; IT Stocks Drag

The BSE benchmark Sensex fell over 100 points in the afternoon deals on the back of selling in IT, banking, realty and auto stocks.

The 50-share Nifty was trading below its important psychological level of 8,350 led by losses in Wipro, State Bank of India, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and Infosys.

In the last five trading sessions, the Sensex has lost nearly 1,400 points as FIIs have been selling shares because the tax department has been issuing notices to several asset managers asking them to pay a Minimum Alternate Tax or MAT on capital gains made during previous years. The government says tax dues worth Rs 40,000 crore are pending.

SV Prasad, chairman of Chime Consulting, expects markets to consolidate in the near term. But any positive news on the land bill could be a trigger for the markets to move upwards, he added.

Meanwhile, the IT stocks fell for the sixth consecutive day. Declines were led by Wipro, India's third biggest outsourcer, which failed to meet estimates as far as March quarter earnings go. Wipro shares were down 4 per cent. Other IT heavyweights like HCL Technologies, Infosys and TCS were also trading on subdued note.

Selling pressure was also visible in banking, auto, realty, oil & gas and metal stocks.

Zee Entertainment, ONGC, State Bank of India, Tata Motors, IDFC, BHEL, Idea Cellular, ICICI Bank, GAIL India, Bharti Airtel, Punjab National Bank and Tata Steel were among the top losers on the Nifty

On the other hand, buying was visible in the pharma and FMCG stocks. Sun Pharma which fell over 10 per cent yesterday bounced back and was the top gainer on the Nifty, up 3 per cent to Rs 979. Hindustan Unilever which corrected over 7 per cent in the last two trading sessions on concerns of slowing rural demand also bounced back and was up over 3 per cent.

The broader markets were also witnessing some amount of selling pressure. The BSE mid-cap index was down 0.3 per cent and the small-cap index slipped 0.1 per cent.

At 1:43 p.m., the Sensex fell 118 points to 27,558 and the Nifty was down 41 points at 8,337.