Market open lower: Indian equities started the trading session on a downward trend on Friday, with information technology stocks leading the decline following gloomy revenue forecasts from global giant Accenture, signalling economic uncertainty in the US.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index breached 22,000-level and was trading 0.20 per cent lower at 21,966.25, while the BSE Sensex retreated 0.29 per cent to 72,461.01 as of 9:18 am.

Nifty IT plunged by up to 3.54 per cent, with major players like TCS, Wipro, HCLTech, Infosys, and Tech Mahindra witnessing losses ranging from 2.75 per cent to 5 per cent, positioning them as the top five decliners in the Nifty 50 index. “IT is likely to remain under pressure in view of the poor guidance from Accenture. Any sharp intraday up moves may face selling from FIIs since the US bond yields continue to remain high,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said.

On the BSE, HCL Tech emerged as the leading loser, followed by Wipro and Tech Mahindra. Conversely, Sun Pharma and Bharti Airtel were among the gainers.

“In the near-term the market is likely to consolidate around the present levels without sharp up moves or down moves. In view of the truncated next week with only three trading days, volumes have dipped significantly in recent days. This is likely to continue. However, big intraday dips are likely to be bought since DIIs are sitting on big cash and there is value in pockets of largecaps like banking,” Vijayakumar noted.

Vijayakumar further said, “Global market construct continues to be supportive with the US and Japanese markets posting new record highs. A significant takeaway from the Fed chief’s message yesterday is the upward revision in the expected US GDP growth in 2024 to 2.1 per cent from 1.4 per cent. This augurs well for the global economy."