Sensex, Nifty trade lower on weak global cues, TCS shares jump over 6%

The BSE Sensex was trading lower by 29.94 points, or 0.09% at 34,397.35 at 11 am, even as TCS climbed 6.37% to Rs 3,394 after the company reported a 4.4% growth in its consolidated net profit for the March 2018 quarter.

The benchmark BSE Sensex declined by about 30 points in morning trade on Friday, in tandem with weak global cues amid rupee’s plunge below the 66 mark against the US dollar.

Besides, the release of the minutes of last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on April 4-5, indicating the Reserve Bank of India may shift to a hawkish monetary stance in June, weighed on investor sentiment.

The 30-share index, which had gained 95.61 points in Thursday’s session, was quoting lower by 29.94 points, or 0.09% at, at 34,397.35 at 11 am,with metal, banking, realty, FMCG, power and PSU stocks leading the fall.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty fell 14.00 points, or 0.13%, to 10,551.30.

Brokers said that besides continued capital outflows by foreign funds, profit-booking in recent gainers, the rupee’s fall below the 66-mark against the dollar and higher global crude oil prices, hurt trading sentiments.

Bucking the trend, shares of the country’s largest software exporter TCS climbed 6.37% at 11 am to Rs 3,394 after the company yesterday reported a 4.4% growth in its consolidated net profit at Rs 6,904 crore for the March 2018 quarter and its board recommended a 1:1 bonus share issue.

Laggards were Tata Steel, Asian Paint, ITC, SBI, Axis Bank, HDFC, Sun Pharma, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, Power Grid, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, M&M and RIL, falling by up to 2.53%.

Meanwhile, foreign funds sold shares worth Rs 624.99 crore in Thursdays trade, provisional data showed.

Globally, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.18%, while Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.73% in early trade. Japan’s Nikkei, however, rose 0.14%.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average had ended 0.34% lower in Thursday’s trade.