Sensex falls nearly 202 pts after TCS, HDFC shares slip

Falling for the second session, the benchmark Sensex today dropped nearly 202 points on selling in shares of TCS, HDFC and ICICI Bank.

The BSE Sensex, which had lost 24.31 points yesterday, dropped further by 201.56 points, or 0.95 per cent, to end at 21,063.62, after touching an intra-day low of 21,015.61.

TCS dropped 5.77 per cent after analysts said the company's margins for December quarter came below estimates.

"TCS was down as despite good results, its margins were lower quarter on quarter basis," said Rakesh Goyal, Senior Vice President, Bonanza Portfolio.

Shares of ITC ended 0.26 per cent lower after it reported 16.25 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 2,385.34 crore for the third quarter ended December 31. Selling was also seen in HDFC Bank counter after it logged 25.1 per cent jump in net profit.

Overall, 18 counters in 30-share Sensex fell.

Wipro fell over 3 per cent ahead of earnings. RIL, which will also announce earnings after markets close, was marginally down. Airtel remained weak for the second day.

The 50-share National Stock Exchange index Nifty fell 57.25 points, or 0.91 per cent, to end at 6,261.65.

With domestic markets witnessing stock-specific action, a mixed trend globally as investors awaited reports on US housing starts and industrial production, also influenced the sentiment, brokers said.

Sectorally, the BSE IT sector index suffered the most by losing 2.55 per cent, followed by Realty index (down 2.40 per cent), Teck index (2.28 per cent) and Banking index (1.57 per cent). Overall, nine out of 12 sectors ended lower.

On a weekly basis, the Sensex closed 305.13 points higher, its best gain in four weeks.