Sensex down 30 points in early trade; L&T plunges 8%, Airtel gains 4.5% on quarterly results

The benchmark BSE Sensex fell 30 points in early trade today on selling by funds and retail investors ahead of monthly expiry in the derivatives segment amidst lower-than expected corporate earnings by some firms.

The 30-share barometer, which had lost 280.62 points in the previous two sessions, moved down by another 30 points, to 25,958.

Nifty was down by 8 points to 7740.

The biggest loser was Larsen and Toubro after it announced its quarterly results on Monday. the profit had gone up by 110% to Rs 967 crore but mainly dues to a one time gain of Rs 249 crore due to stake sale in a project. The second largest lsoer was Sesa Sterlite which lost 2.4% after its own quarterly results.

The highest gainer is Bharti Airtel gaining 4.4% after announcing what is deemed to be good quarterly results with a show of 74% rise in mobile data revenue.

The biggest losers in the trade has been the capital goods index and the metals index.

Brokers said offloading of positions by foreign funds and retail investors in view of tomorrow’s monthly expiry in the derivatives segment influenced the trading sentiment. They said lower-than-expected quarterly earnings by some companies including Larsen and Toubro also dampened the sentiment.

Among other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.27 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was trading 0.75 per cent higher in early trade. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.42 per cent down in yesterday’s trade.