Indian stock markets closed with deep cuts on Thursday as blue chip shares such as Tata Motors and Reliance Industries closed lower. The BSE Sensex declined 103 points or 0.51 to 19,924 while the broader Nifty ended at 6,019, down 35 points.
The rupee traded lower against the dollar at 53.77 (down 10 paise) despite the government raising the FII limit in government securities and corporate bonds.
Indian markets have been sideways for the past few days after running up sharply to two years high in the first week of January. The Nifty has support near 6,000 levels, but a decisive break down below these levels may confirm a short term downtrend.
On the Nifty, 36 stocks closed lower, led by Tata Motors, which closed 6 per cent lower after the company forecast a lower EBITDA margin for its Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) subsidiary in the October-December quarter compared with the previous two quarters.
"The consolidated earnings estimates we had put out at Rs 2,900 crore will be down about 18-20 per cent on the back of this guidance," Mahantesh Sabarad, senior VP (equity research) at Fortune Equity Brokers told NDTV Profit.
Cement maker Jaiprakash Associates declined 5.6 per cent while gas utility Gail India dropped 4.5 per cent. Drug maker Cipla and Ranbaxy ended with 3.5-4 per cent lower.
Mobile carrier Bharti Airtel closed 1.5 per cent lower on profit taking while Reliance Industries fell on reports that a revision in gas prices will not apply to the company.
FMCG major HUL rebounded ending at the top of the Nifty. The stock rose 2 per cent today after falling over 7 per cent over the last two sessions. Cigarette maker ITC gained 1.6 per cent.
Shares in Larsen & Toubro, India's biggest engineering conglomerate, gained 1.5 per cent after reporting 13 per cent jump in net profit for the quarter ending December 31, 2012. The stock gained after L&T maintained its FY13 order inflow guidance of Rs 80,000 crore.
Meanwhile, shares in Housing Development & Infrastructure plunged 23 per cent despite a senior executive assuring investors that the company was "very comfortable" with its debt repayments. The stock had declined 20.4 per cent in the previous two sessions.
IT stocks saw buying interest today with TCS gaining 1.3 per cent and Wipro ending 0.8 per cent higher.
The precursor to the sharp selloff was a partial stake sale by vice chairman and managing director Sarang Wadhawan that raised worries other stakeholders would also sell shares.
Infra major IVRCL shares closed 20 per cent lower today. Anil Ambani promoted Reliance Communications declined 9 per cent after Q3 profit declined 44 per cent.
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