Sensex, Nifty open with gains; Infosys plunges

NEW DELHI: Domestic indices opened on a tepid note on Tuesday, as optimism over a likely win for BJP in Maharashtra and Haryana elections was overshadowed by reports of a whistleblower complaint accusing Infosys of overstating financial statements.

Progress in Sino-US trade talks and hopes that another vote on Brexit would still avert a hard exit kept sentiment positive globally.

At 9.30 am, the 30-share Sensex was trading 70 points higher at 38,372. The NSE barometer Nifty was up 50 points at 11,711. Nifty Midcap climbed 0.6 per cent and Nifty Smallcap edged 0.7 per cent higher.


Infosys plunged 15 per cent to Rs 657 after a whistleblower accused the management of hiding the true financial picture. In overnight trade, American depository receipts (ADRs) of the IT major sank 12 per cent on New York Stock Exchange.

There was a contagion effect was seen in other IT stocks, most of which were trading in the red. Nifty IT was down nearly 4 per cent.

Axis Bank was up 0.6 per cent to Rs 713 ahead oof its September quarter results. Similarly, Bajaj Finance was up 0.77 per cent at Rs 4,170 and Kotak Mahindra Bank was up 0.3 per cent at Rs 1,620 ahead of their quarterly numbers.

Tata Elxsi, Hexaware and Just Dial fell over 2 per cent.

Asian share markets edged higher. A holiday in Tokyo kept turnover light and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added a modest 0.3 per cent. Futures for Japan's Nikkei were trading at 22,760, compared to Monday's index close at 22,548. South Korean stocks rose 0.9 per cent and Shanghai blue chips were flat.