RIL, Infy results fail to cheer investors

Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty snapped their six-day winning run to close lower by over a half per cent after profit booking in oil & gas, automobile and telecom stocks on Monday.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 306.01 points or 0.55 per cent to settle at 55,766.22 dragged down by index heavyweight Reliance Industries. During the day, the barometer declined 535.15 points or 0.95 per cent to 55,537.08. The broader NSE Nifty dipped 88.45 points or 0.53 per cent to 16,631 as 31 of its constituents closed in the red.

"Bulls finally lost steam after surging ahead for the last six consecutive sessions as investors booked profit in automobile, oil & gas, and telecom stocks, even though gains in metals and select capital goods stocks capped losses. Investors traded with caution ahead of the Federal Reserve meet on Wednesday," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

"RIL's results, though impressive on the telecom and retail front, fell slightly below expectations in the refining space. Infosys, which posted a 3.2 per cent increase in its June quarter profit and upgraded its revenue guidance for FY23, declined by 0.23 per cent," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

"Fears of global economic slowdown along with reaction to a slew of major quarterly earnings dictated the trend in the domestic market. Recession fears are casting a shadow over the global markets as US and Euro business activity contracted unexpectedly owing to the downturn in manufacturing and service sectors," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.