The S&P BSE Sensex fell 175 points on Monday after India's second largest IT firm Infosys trimmed its dollar revenue forecast for the current fiscal year.
The Sensex closed at 26,904 points, down 0.65%, while the 50-share Nifty fell by 43 points, or 0.56%, to end at 8,143.
Investors booked profits at higher levels after Infosys revised down its guidance to 6.4 to 8.4% in dollar terms from a previous estimate of 7 to 9%, despite posting a forecast-beating net profit for the second consecutive quarter this fiscal.
Infosys net profit rose 9.8% to Rs 3,400 crore in the July-September period on a sequential basis, while revenue stood at Rs 15,635 crore.
In a surprise move, the company's chief financial officer Rajiv Bansal announced his resignation; he will be replaced by senior executive MD Ranganath.
Following a cut in revenue estimates, Infosys shares fell nearly 4% to close at Rs 1,122 on the BSE, while other IT stocks also witnessed selling pressure. India's largest IT firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) shares fell by 1.4%, while Wipro stocks were down by over 1%.
"Infosys delivered a strong operational performance in Q2 FY16 with constant currency revenue growth exceeding expectation and margin improvement in-line. However, a cautious growth outlook for H2 FY16 impacted stock sentiment as it endangers incremental growth recovery in FY17. Heading into a transient challenging period, the stock may not offer further material upside after a significant outperformance in the past few months," said Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL.
TCS is scheduled to release its second quarter results on Tuesday and investors will watch the company earnings closely, as it disappointed the Street's estimates in the past few quarters.
Among the BSE sectoral indices, IT was the top loser ending 2.1% lower, followed by healthcare and FMCG.
However, metal stocks gained sharply taking a cue from rising global commodity prices. While the Vedanta stock ended 7% higher, Hindalco shares were up nearly 6%.
Reliance Power (up 3.9%), BHEL (up 1.8%), Tata Motors (up 1.7%) and NTPC (up 1%) were the other top gainers among Sensex stocks. DLF (down 2.7%), Cipla (down 1.9%), HDFC (down 1.7%) were among the top losers.
On the global front, Chinese stock markets soared on expectations of further stimulus from the country's authorities. China's benchmark Shanghai Composite ended 3.3% higher, lending support to other Asian markets. While Japan's Nikkei was up 1.6%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed 1.2% higher.
Gold prices rose sharply by Rs 170 to Rs 26,870 per 10 gram, tracking the strength in the overall markets. Silver prices also ended Rs 275 higher at Rs 37,000 per kg.
