Global cues, Infosys Q1 nos, IIP pull Sensex 310 points down

Indian equity benchmarks slaughterd on Tuesday following weak global cues, tracking endless European debt crisis. Lower than expected Infosys' first quarter numbers and consistent slow down in industrial output added more fuel to the fire. Fresh shorts were seen in heavyweights today.

The market has seen sell-off for the third consecutive session, with the 30-share BSE Sensex shed more than 650 points in three days. The index fell 309.77 points, to close at 18,411.62 and the 50-share NSE Nifty tumbled 89.95 points or 1.6%, to settle at 5,526.5, after seeing recovery of about 30 points from day's low of 5496.95.

VK Sharma, head, private broking and wealth, HDFC Securities says, the markets have so far absorbed Infosys results and even the weak IIP numbers. ''The correction seems to be complete for the moment. Only if you see the level of 5,490 breaking then the fresh concerns should arise,'' he added.

IT bellwether Infosys has reported first quarter net profit at Rs 1,720 crore, which was lower than expected of Rs 1,736 crore. Even the guidance for Q2 did not surprise the street.

Harit Shah, Senior Research Analyst, Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities said, "The more disappointing aspect was the fact that they gave a very disappointing guidance for second quarter of FY12. They guided for around 4.3% sequential top line growth in rupee terms and we were expecting around 5.5-6% guidance."

Infosys guided EPS at Rs 128.20-130 and revenues at Rs 31,777-32,311 crore for FY12. Company expects Q2 EPS at USD 0.67-0.68, a growth of 3.1-4.6%.