Indian shares drift lower in wake of weak IT earnings

Indian shares extended losses for the third session in a row on Wednesday, dragged by IT stocks and the lack of any fresh triggers to offset the downbeat sentiment after a lacklustre start to the earnings season.

The Nifty 50 (.NSEI) closed down 0.23% at 17.618.75, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) closed 0.27% lower to 59,567.80.

Seven of the 13 major sectoral indexes declined. The heavyweight financials stocks (.NIFTYFIN) were little changed, but IT stocks (.NIFTYIT) fell over 1.75%, reported Reuters.

HCLTech Ltd (HCLT.NS) and Infosys Ltd (INFY.NS) lost over 2% each and were among the top Nifty losers. HCLTech will report results on Thursday, following dire reports from market leaders Infosys and TCS Ltd (TCS.NS) last week.

“Investors have been nervous after the dismal fourth-quarter performance of IT companies which have reported their numbers so far,” said Prashanth Tapse, senior vice president (research) at Mehta Equities.

Since TCS’s results last Wednesday, the Nifty IT index has tumbled nearly 8%, while the benchmark Nifty 50 has lost just over 1%.