After spending the entire trading day in the red, the Indian equity markets closed near the low point of the day. While the BSE Sensex today closed lower by 231 points, the NSE-Nifty closed lower by 67 points. The BSE Mid Cap index closed flat and the BSE Small Cap index closed higher by 0.5% today. FMCG stocks were the biggest gainers while banking and energy stocks were the biggest losers today.
Most Asian stocks closed higher today. European stock markets were trading mixed at the time of writing. The rupee was trading at Rs 62.21 to the dollar.
Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has stated that the government has no intention to indulge in profiteering from the upcoming spectrum auctions. He has stated that the reserve prices for the various frequencies of spectrum were fair and reasonable. Importantly, he has said that the process of auctioning spectrum would continue in the future and there is adequate spectrum available for the growth of the industry. The spectrum auctions are scheduled for the first week of March 2015. It is expected to witness fierce bidding.
Most IT stocks ended lower today. HCL Technologies and Infosys were the biggest losers. India's second largest IT firm Infosys, has won a multi-year multi-million dollar deal with ABN-AMRO. Under the contract Infosys will provide IT services like application development and maintenance, software testing and product implementation. Infosys will help the bank improve operational efficiency, service quality, customer experience, employee satisfaction, its ability to respond faster to market dynamics as well as rationalising its IT infrastructure. ABN-AMRO has been a client of Infosys for over a decade. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed. The stock closed down 1.9% today.
For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!
Read the latest Market Commentary
Equitymaster requests your view! Post a comment on "Markets end deep in the red". Click here!
Comments are moderated by Equitymaster, in accordance with the Terms of Use, and may not appear
on this article until they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting.
In the meantime, you may want to share this article with your friends!