Sensex on Wednesday fell by 49 points to close at a fresh one-week low of 20,062.24, dragged down by over 5.5 per cent drop in l&T shares after its earnings failed to meet market expectations. Similarly, the broad-based 50-issue CNX Nifty of the NSE also declined by 19.60 points or 0.32 per cent to 6,094.50. MCX-SX flagship index SX40 closed down by 20.32 points, or 0.17 per cent, at 11,861.05.
Engineering and construction giant l&T was the top loser from the Sensex pack after the company's net profit fell by 6.90 per cent on standalone basis for the March 2013 quarter. "l&T numbers were lower than our expectations," said Sanjeev Zarbade, Vice President - PCG Research, Kotak Securities.
Experts said a bearish trend in European region before Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies on the outlook for US economy further influenced domestic market sentiment.
The rupee's falling beyond 55.50-mark against US dollar today also affected domestic market sentiment, said a trader. Besides l&T, Sensex constituents including RIl, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Power, GAIl, Sterlite Ind and BHEl were among notable losers.