Sensex loses 500 points to close below 60,000 mark, Nifty at 17,700 dragged down by IT stocks

After a green run, Sensex has dropped 500 points to end the day at 59,910 points, while Nifty slid down to 17,700. The decline into red territory has been caused by a crash for IT stocks, even as public sector banks, FMCG and the oil sector performed well.

Apart from IT stocks such as Infosys, HCL and Tech Mahindra, private lender HDFC Bank has also been bogged down after its January-March quarter results.

Markets let down by IT majors

• Pharma stocks also underperformed as the longest winning streak for Indian indices in two years came to an end.

• The tech sector has been under pressure after TCS and Infosys delivered disappointing earnings below market expectations.

• The slide is a result of a sell-off by panic hit investors in IT stocks.

How are global markets behaving?

• Top tech firms in the country have also been bogged down due to concerns about a recession in the US, which accounts for a big chunk of orders.

• As for Asian stocks, Japan's Nikkei clocked its biggest rally in nine months, while its Hong Kong counterpart Hang Seng also went up by 1.7 per cent.