TCS, Infosys rally limits fall: Sensex loses 72 pts, Nifty ends at 10,700; real estate, PSB stocks crack

A sustained rally in shares of blue-chip IT companies such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies resisted a heavy fall in Sensex and Nifty on Tuesday as shares of PSU banks, real estate, metal, auto and FMCG cracked today. BSE Sensex shed 72.46 points or 0.21% at 34,771.05 while NSE Nifty closed 41.1 points or 0.38% lower at 10,700.45. Indian stock markets took a breather on Tuesday after the trade deficit spiked to a 3-year high level following a sharp rise in imports. The difference between imports and exports rose about 41% to $14.88 billion in December as the imports of crude oil and gold increased the bills. The widening trade deficit stalled Indian stock market following which Sensex couldn’t make it to the 35,000-mark.

Shares of heavyweight companies such as RIL, ITC, HDFC, SBI, Tata Motors, Coal India, Tata Steel contributed the most to the Sensex fall. Collectively these seven shares washed off about 193 points while, on the other hand, an uptick in shares of Infosys, TCS, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Wipro, HUL added about 218 points. The blue-chip stocks such  TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and HCL Technologieshitting their respective 52-week highs. The benchmark IT index of National Stock Exchange Nifty IT also surged to 52-week high levels following a sharp rise in the underlying components. Shares of India’s largest IT company and Tata group’s cash cow Tata Consultancy Services rose as much as 4.1% to a 52-week high of Rs 2,860 before settling up 3.77% at Rs 2,850.85 while the stock of second largest IT firm Infosys shot up 5% to the 52-week high of Rs 1,134.4 before closing up 3.93% at Rs 1,122.9 on BSE.

Shares of SBI, PNB, BOB among other major PSBs (public sector banks) fell up to 6% in the late afternoon trade. Shares of India’s largest lender by assets State Bank of India tanked as much as 2.3% to the day’s low of Rs 295.6; the stock of Punjab National Bank tumbled 4% to the day’s low of Rs 165.1; shares of Bank of India fell over 4% to the day’s low of Rs 155.55 while the stock of Bank of Baroda plummeted 4.5% to the day’s low of Rs 156.2. A sustained Shares of IT companies helped the headline indices to limit the losses.

Meanwhile, The Indian rupee tumbled to a three-week low slipping as much as 62 paise against the US dollar on Tuesday as concerns over trade deficit widening to a three-year high jolted the investor sentiments. The rupee opened marginally weak, down by 11 paise at 63.60 against the previous close of 63.49 per dollar. In the afternoon session, the rupee shed as many as 62 paise to hit a three-week low of 64.11 apiece US dollar.