Market Live: Sensex opens 200 points lower, Nifty below 9850; Infy tanks as Sikka steps down

10:15 am Market Check: Weakness in the market continued in the first hour of trade, as the Street digested news of Infosys MD & CEO Vishal Sikka stepping down with immediate effect.

Frontline indices were in the red, but ex-Infosys reaction, the Street’s performance was steady.

At 10:13 hrs, the Sensex was down 219.85 points at 31575.61, while the Nifty was down 57.50 points at 9846.65. The market breadth was negative as 574 shares advanced against a decline of 1,274 shares, while 67 shares were unchanged.

Among the broader markets, midcaps and smallcaps saw corrective pressure as Nifty midcap fell over half a percent, while BSE mid and smallcap index fell between 0.2 and 0.5 percent. The Nifty IT index was lower by over half a percent.

TCS, ITC, and Bharti Infratel were the top gainers on both indices, while Infosys, Sun Pharma and Zee Entertainment lost the most.

Read all about the news and developments surrounding Infosys CEO and MD in our live blog here

9:45 am Currency update: The Indian rupee opened marginally lower at 64.18 per dollar on Friday versus 64.15 Wednesday.

Bhaskar Panda of HDFC Bank said, “Dollar index bounced on the basis of European Central Bank (ECB) concerns on euro strength. The USD-INR pair consequently could move a little higher keeping pace with other Asian currencies. We expect a range of 64.15-64.40 for the day.”

He further added, “The 10-year benchmark yield is expected to trade within the 6.52-6.54 percent range today.”

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9:30 am Infosys declines post Sikka’s news: Infosys slipped as much as 6.09 percent in morning trade on Friday after the board of directors of Infosys Ltd said that they have accepted the notice of resignation of Dr. Vishal Sikka as the Managing Director and CEO, effective immediately.

Mr. U. B. Pravin Rao has been appointed Interim Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director reporting to Dr. Sikka under the overall supervision and control of the Company’s Board.

In his notice of resignation to the Board, Dr. Sikka reiterated his belief in the great potential of Infosys, but cited among his reasons for leaving a continuous stream of distractions and disruptions over the recent months and quarters, increasingly personal and negative as of late, as preventing management’s ability to accelerate the Company’s transformation.

9:15 am Market Opens: After consecutive sessions of positive movements in the ongoing week, benchmark indices witnessed a gap-down opening, dragged by weak movements on Infosys on the back of developments in the top management exit.

At 09:18 hrs, the Sensex was down 210.84 points at 31584.62, while the Nifty was down 62.20 points at 9841.95. The market breadth was negative as 209 shares advanced against a decline of 742 shares, while 34 shares were unchanged.

ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), Bharti Infratel and UltraTech Cement gained the most on both indices, while Infosys, State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda were the top losers.

Among global markets, Asia markets were pressured in early Friday trade after investors on Wall Street sold off on growing uncertainty over the Trump administration’s ability to follow through on its economic policies.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.31 percent as risk off trade from the US session followed through into the Asian trading day. Across the Korean strait, the Kospi declined 0.81 percent.

Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 tumbled 1.10 percent, driven by broad-based losses across all sub-indexes barring the health care sector. The heavily-weighted financials sub-index recorded a 1.59 percent fall.

US stocks sold off on Thursday, with the S&P 500 recording its biggest daily percentage drop in three months as escalating worries about the Trump administration’s ability to push through its economic agenda rattled investors.

The benchmark index also closed at its lowest since July 11, with the day’s move marking the first time since the November 8 election of two days with more than 1 percent declines so close together. The index dropped 1.4 percent last Thursday, as concern over a possible conflict between the United States and North Korea hit the market.
The falls mark a break from a period of low volatility and subdued moves. The S&P 500 has had just four 1 percent declines this year.