CNBC-TV18 Closing Bell: Sensex settles below 39K, Nifty gives up 11,600; Infosys crashes 16%

Indian equity markets ended Tuesday's trade lower dragged by a sharp fall in Infosys and weak earnings amid lingering uncertainty over Brexit. The benchmark 30-share BSE S&P Sensex ended 334 points lower, or 0.85 percent down, at 38,964. The broader 50-share NSE Nifty50 closed 73.50 points lower, or 0.63 percent, at 11,588.

Markets opened after a three-day long weekend due to state assembly elections in Maharashtra. Exit polls predict the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP-Shiv Sena coalition to return to power with improved tally.

The Nifty MidCap 100 index was mildly up in the green while the banking gauge, Nifty Bank outperformed, rising over a percent.

ICICI Bank was the top gainer, jumping 3 percent, but Infosys tanked over 16 percent. Dr Reddy's Labs, BPCL, Titan and Cipla were other major gainers, while Tata Motors, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel and HCL Tech were major laggards.

Infosys shares tumbled 16 percent, the most on the NSE Nifty, after the IT firm received a complaint alleging “unethical practices” by Chief Executive Officer Salil Parekh.

The biggest single-day selling in Infosys in over six years also erased its market cap by over Rs 50,000 crore. Infosys weighed on the country’s IT index as well which fell as much as over 4 percent to hit its lowest level in over four weeks.

HDFC Bank Ltd’s shares rose as much as 1.5 percent after the lender on Saturday posted a 27 percent jump in quarterly profit.

Reliance Industries rose 1.31 percent after the oil-to-telecom-retail conglomerate on Friday posted over an 18 percent rise in quarterly profit.

Kotak Mahindra Bank on Tuesday reported a 51 percent year-on-year jump in its standalone net profit which came in at Rs 1,724.5 in the second quarter ended on September 30.

The private sector lender had reported a net profit of Rs 1,141.6 in Q2FY19. A CNBC-TV18 poll had estimated the profit to the tune of Rs 1,555.2 crore for Q2FY20. Kotak Bank shares ended a percent up.

Avanti Feeds rallied 16 percent intraday on Tuesday after the company reported strong September quarter earnings.

Zensar Technologies ltd (ZENSARTECH) shares hit a 52-week low price of Rs 176.95 in trade on Tuesday, plunging well over 16 percent on NSE.

Shares of air conditioning parts manufacturer, Subros Ltd , slid as much as 7 percent to its lowest in nearly five weeks after the company posted a drop in quarterly net profit.