TCS scrip falls: Investors lose Rs 16,000 cr

Shares of Tata Consultancy Services on Wednesday plunged almost 4 per cent, wiping out about Rs 16,000 crore (Rs 160 billion) in investor wealth, after the IT major indicated to analysts that weak India business and lower working days could drag down March quarter growth rate.

After falling 5.3 per cent to touch the day's low of Rs 2,015 on the BSE in intra-day trade, the IT major's scrip finally ended at Rs 2,040.95, down 3.84 per cent at the BSE.

As a result of the fall in TCS shares, its market capitalisation fell by Rs 15,964 crore (Rs 159.64 billion) to Rs 3.99 lakh crore.

"We attended Tata Consultancy Services' (TCS) Sell-Side Analysts' Briefing...According to the management, Q4FY14 is likely to be touch softer than Q3FY14 in constant currency terms. The growth is likely to be weaker in Europe, Indiaand Middle East/Asia Pacific," said Shashi Bhusan, Senior Research Analyst-Institutional Equities, Prabhudas Lilladher.

The company emphasised that 'weak' India business and lower working days - likely impacted by harsh winters in the US - could drag the quarterly growth rate, according to brokerage ICICIdirect.

Infosys shares also came under selling pressure and tumbled 2.32 per cent to Rs 3,271.55 after moving between Rs 3,366.50 and Rs 3,240.15 largely in tandem with overall trend.

Brokers said following dip in the country's largest software exporter TCS, selling activity also emerged in other IT sector counters.

Shares of software exporters have witnessed selling this month so far as investors locked-in gains after recent strong rally, powered by expectations of improved earnings.

"TCS's 4QFY14 outlook on revenue growth is a tad below our expectation of nearly 3 per cent q-q growth, but FY15 outlook of revenue growth being better than FY14 is reassuring," wrote Nomura analysts Ashwin Mehta and Pinku Pappan in a client note.

The BSE IT sector index suffered the most by falling 2.24 per cent to close at 8,668.13 points. Mindtree, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and Mphasis slipped.

Bucking the trend, Wipro and Hexawre ended in positive zone with minor gains. Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex ended almost flat by rising 0.25 points higher at 21,832.86.