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Infosys hits 4-week lows; ONGC shines in flat trade

Stocks see-sawed amid low volumes on Friday as traders hesitated to extend positions ahead of the weekend and before the crucially important…

Infosys hits 4-week lows; ONGC shines in flat trade

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Stocks see-sawed amid low volumes on Friday as traders hesitated to extend positions ahead of the weekend and before the crucially important US Payrolls data. There wasn't much action either in European equities or in the US index futures markets, prompting investors to take it easy.

Thick selling action, however, was concentrated on the software sector, which plunged to a 2-week low following a negative development in its main market, the United States. The IT Index dropped 2.8 per cent and closed at its lowest level since Dec 27.

The Nifty fell 30 points to 8,243, unable as it was to hold on to morning gains as sustained selling in index heavyweight software stocks pushed markets lower. Media reports said two US Congressmen have moved a Bill that may make it difficult for software exporters to procure H1-B visas, necessary to send developers to the US, which consumes a majority of India's $150 billion in software exports.

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Meanwhile, here are the most important events of the trading day:

* HCL Technologies replaces Tech Mahindra as the top loser on the Nifty. Others to slip were Idea Cellular, TCS, Infosys and Wipro. These six stocks lost between 2.1-3.8 per cent and were among 29 shares trading lower on the Nifty .

* Yes Bank, ONGC, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank and Bank of Baroda gain 1.9-3.1 per cent; and are among 22 shares advancing on the Nifty.

* Infosys, India's second largest software exporter, was the top traded stock by value, down 2.4 per cent. 

to its lowest level since December 8th, a 1-month low. More than 540 crore rupees worth of Infosys shares changed hands on the National Stock Exchange.

* Wockhardt Pharma, Yes Bank, TCS and Bajaj Finance were the other counters were substantial trading was witnessed.

* The Sensex dived 119 points to 26,759 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange. ONGC was the top gainer while TCS lost the most. Infosys was the top traded stock by volume on the Sensex.

* JSW Energy was the top gainer in the list of most active shares by volumes. HDIL, Jindal Steel & Power, Vedanta and Reliance Communications saw heavy actions as well.

* Broader market indices traded flat, with low volumes. The Nifty 100, 200 and 500 indices dropped about 0.3 per cent each. Mid Caps and Small caps ended lower too.

* Sectoral indices showed a mixed trend with a stroke of red on FMCG, Media and Realty benchmarks while the four bank indices, auto, metals and pharma benchmarks were painted with a shade of green. They gained between 0.5-0.9 per cent.

* Overall, the mood turned more bearish towards close of play as 949 stocks fell versus 542 that rose in the wider market, signalling that sellers had an upper hand on the last trading day of the week.

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