Markets closed lower for the third straight day with IT giant TCS leading the fall after its Q2 results missed street expectations while lower dollar revenue guidance from Infosys on Monday also dampened sentiment.
Further, a fall in the WPI numbers for the eleven straight months coupled with strength in financials helped Nifty maintain the 8,100 level.
Meanwhile, weakness in global peers on new signs of economic slowdown in China amid slump in the commodity prices dampened the sentiments.
The Sensex lost 67 points to close at 26,780 and the Nifty shed 24 points to end at 8,108. The broader market was mixed with BSE Midcap index lost 0.3% and SmallCap index gained 0.3%. Market breadth on the BSE ended positive with 1,501 gainers and 1,265 losers.
RESULT CAPSULE
IT giant TCS lost over 4% after the company reported a revenue of Rs 27,165 crore for the quarter ended September 2015 as against a consensus Bloomberg estimate of 27,229 crore. By comparison, the CNX Nifty was trading 0.1% lower at 8,122 levels.
In US dollar terms, TCS's clocked a revenue of $4,156 million, a growth of 3% on q-o-q basis, but was lower than the Street's estimate of around 4% growth.
This marks the fifth quarter in a row where TCS has missed revenue growth expectations. FMCG major Hindustan Unilever slipped 2.5% after the company reported a decline of 2.62 per cent in its standalone net profit at Rs 962.24 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2015-16.
The company had posted net profit of Rs 988.16 crore in the July-September quarter of the 2014-15 fiscal. WPI General wholesale prices fell for the 11th month in a row in September, but the decline decelerated to 4.54 per cent against 4.95 per cent in August.
However, onions and pulses continued to witness increased price pressures, official data released on Wednesday showed.
KEY STOCKS
On the sectoral front, BSE IT, Auto, Teck, Metal and Capital Goods indices ended lower between 0.2-1.5%.
However, BSE Consumer Durables and Healthcare indices gained between 0.3-1.5%. Consumer durable stocks rose on buying interest after the recent industrial output data indicated strong growth in the sector.
TTK Prestige,, PC Jewellers, Symphony, Blue Star ended up between 1.5-12%. Tata Motors lost 2.4% as China witnessed fresh signs of economic slowdown after consumer inflation in China cooled more than expected last month, adding to concerns about the health of the world's second-biggest economy.
Financials gained ground in a rangebound market with HDFC twins, Axis Bnak and SBI ending higher between 0.2-1%. Lupin gained nearly 2% after the drug maker entered into a joint strategic alliance with German pharma firm Boehringer Ingelheim for co-marketing linagliptin, a novel dipeptidylpeptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor in India.
Cipla ended with marginal losses after the investors referred to a letter, namely 'form 483', that the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) sent to US firm InvaGen Pharmaceuticals in May focusing on quality control issues in one of its manufacturing plants. Sun Pharmaceuticals gained 0.2% after Taro Pharmaceuticals, the US subsidiary Sun Pharmaceuticals acquired Canada's Zalicus Pharmaceuticals, a company engaged in the development of a pain management drug. Maruti Suzuki lost 0.6%.
The passenger car major is eyeing leadership in the premium hatchback segment with the upcoming model Baleno slated to be introduced later this month.
Infosys shares ended lower for the third straight day after the management revised its FY16 US$ revenue growth guidance down to 6.4-8.4% year-on-year (YoY) from 7.2-9.2% earlier, while keeping its constant currency guidance unchanged at 10-12% YoY
