Indian shares opened lower on Monday, dragged by a sharp slide in information technology (IT) stocks after weak quarterly earnings from Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services.
The Nifty 50 fell 1.03% to 17,639.75, as of 9:35 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex lost 1.21% to 59,700.44. Five of the 13 major sectoral indexes declined. High weightage IT index tumbled 7%, with India's No.2 IT services exporter Infosys slumping 11%. The company
forecast its revenue growth hitting a six-year low in fiscal
2024, with clients deferring spending due to recession worries
in major markets, the United States and Europe.
India's top IT firm by market capitalisation, Tata
Consultancy Services fell 3%. The company also flagged
uncertainty in the banking, financial, services and insurance
(BFSI) segment in the near term in North American markets last
week.
Meanwhile, Tech Mahindra lost nearly 7.5%.
Global equities remained subdued on rising odds of a 25-basis point Fed rate hike in May after data showed resilience in core U.S. retail sales. ($1 = 81.8620 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
