Mumbai: Reeling under low foreign investor confidence, the benchmark BSE Sensex on Friday fell 297 points to its lowest close in more than three months at 27,437.94 after IT behemoth Infosys shares tanked 6 percent on disappointing earning numbers and guidance.
Heavy selling by foreign investors on persisting worries over the controversial tax issue amid sustained fall in rupee continued to put pressure on the markets.
Earlier in the day, on controversial tax issue faced by foreign investors, the CBDT said, claims coming under the ambit of DTAAs will be settled within a month of being filed.
Concerns of non-DTAA foreign investors, however, continue to weigh on sentiments.
On a sequential basis, Infosys' net profit fell 4.7 percent in the March quarter, while revenue declined by 2.8 percent, the company reported today.
Reacting to the news results, company's shares tanked 5.95 percent and was the top loser on the Sensex, alone contributing over 150 points to the index's fall.
"Market started the day cautiously as seen in the last few days led with MAT issue and downgrading of earnings. During the last trading hours, huge correction from Infosys post Q4, shocked the market," Vinod Nair, Head of Fundamental Research at Geojit BNP Paribas.
Brokers said, forecast of a below-normal monsoon was also among the major factors behind the plunge.
The 30-share BSE index tumbled by 297.08 points or 1.07 percent to 27,437.94, a level last seen on January 14, when it closed at 27,346.82. Intra-day, the gauge shuttled between 27,829.11 and 27,344.70.
This is the seventh fall in last eight sessions. On weekly basis, it has crashed by 1,004.16 points or 3.53 percent.
On similar lines, the NSE Nifty dropped 93.05 points or 1.11 percent at 8,305.25 after moving between 8,413.30 and 8,273.35, intraday.
Besides Infosys, other major on the Sensex included, Cipla, Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco, L&T, HDFC, Coal India, Axis Bank, Dr Reddy, GAIL, Hindustan Unilever and ICICI Bank.
Selling pressure was also seen in smallcap and midcap indices as they fell 2.66 and 1.62 percent, respectively.
Jignesh Chaudhary, Head of Research at Veracity Broking Services said: "Indices started the day on a better note, but immediately slipped down to close in the red as investors curbed their positions as concern over tax issue related to FIIs remained unsolved."
Selling pressure was also seen in smallcap and midcap indices, as they fell 2.66 and 1.62 percent, respectively.
Market is now eager to know whether the Government will be able to pass GST and Land Bills in both Lok and Rajya Sabha in coming days, brokers said.
Meanwhile, Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth Rs 276.83 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.
In Asian markets, indices from China, Japan and South Korea finished with losses, while from Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan ended with gains.
European markets, in late afternoon deals, were trading higher after a survey said German business sentiment index improved in April. France's CAC was up by 0.36 percent, Germany's DAX 0.42 percent and the UK FTSE by 0.29 percent.
On the Sensex, ONGC bucked the trend by rising 2.60 percent, followed by Maruti Suzuki 1.92 percent, TCS 1.63 percent, ITC 1.43 percent and Tata Motors 0.72 percent.
Sectorally, realty index dropped by 3.85 percent, consumer durables 3.18 percent, IT 2.78 percent, consumer goods 2.57 percent, Teck 2.33 percent and metal 1.65 percent.
The market breadth remained negative as 2,080 counters ended in the red, while 684 settled in the green and 99 held stable. The total turnover shot up to Rs 3,663.64 crore from Rs 2,963.44 crore yesterday.
