By Bharath Rajeswaran
(Reuters) -Indian shares opened lower on Thursday, dragged down by a decline in information technology stocks, but Larsen & Toubro’s jump after maintaining its annual growth forecast helped cap further losses.
The NSE Nifty 50 was down 0.26% at 24,278.6 points as of 10:13 a.m. IST, while the BSE Sensex lost 0.3% to 79,707.21.
IT stocks fell 2.8%, with all ten constituents in the red.
The IT index has been one of the outliers this month until this session, dropping only 0.7% compared to 5.7% for the Nifty 50.
“Investors are using the global drop in tech stocks as a cue to book profits in domestic IT companies today,” said Raghvendra Nath, managing director of LadderUp Wealth Management.
Technology stocks across Asia dropped on the day after Facebook owner Meta Platforms projected sharp acceleration in artificial intelligence costs.
Investors may also opt to wait for U.S. nonfarm payrolls data due on Friday for cues on U.S. economic growth trajectory as well as presidential elections on Nov. 5 and reassess their investments in the sector, which earns a significant share of its revenue from the world’s largest economy, analysts said.
Seven of the 13 major sectors fell. The broader, more domestically focused small-caps rose 0.5% while mid-caps traded flat.
Among individual stocks, L&T jumped 6.2% after reporting a rise in quarterly profit and maintaining its annual order growth forecast.
The quarterly results of L&T ticked all the boxes, said Morgan Stanley, reiterating its “overweight” rating on the stock.
Drug maker Cipla gained 7.5% on multiple block deals at a premium over its last close, leading the pharma index 1% higher.
The benchmark Nifty 50 has lost about 6% in October so far, eyeing its worst monthly performance since March 2020 when COVID-19 lockdowns spurred a sharp slide across global markets.
($1 = 84.0810 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sonia Cheema)
