Sensex declines 359 points on selling in IT shares, foreign fund outflows

Mumbai's Sensex declines by 359 points due to selling in IT shares and foreign fund outflows.

Benchmark Sensex declined by 359 points while Nifty closed below the 21,400 level on January 25 due to selling in IT shares and continuous foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 359.64 points or 0.51% to settle at 70,700.67. The index opened lower and plunged further 741.27 points or 1.04% to hit a low of 70,319.04 in day trade. As many as 19 Sensex shares dropped while 11 advanced.

The broader Nifty fell by 101.35 points or 0.47% to settle at 21,352.60 with 34 of its constituents closing in the red.

A rise in U.S. bond yields and mixed financial results by corporates triggered FII selling, analysts said. IT, pharma and FMCG shares declined while realty and energy stocks bucked the trend.

Among Sensex shares, Tech Mahindra fell by over 6% after the company reported a 60% decline in net profit to ₹510.4 crore in the December quarter.

Bharti Airtel, ITC, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, Nestle, Tata Steel, and Maruti were among the other major laggards.

IT shares declined as third-quarter results have failed to impress investors. Wipro dropped 1.68%, HCL Tech by 1.54%, TCS by 1.03% and Infosys by 0.22%.