Led by TCS, shares of frontline IT companies drifted lower on the NSE today with the CNX IT index emerging as the biggest sectoral index loser in the morning trade with a loss of about 270 points.

While the one time bonus payout of close to Rs 2,650 crore to its employees had definitely impacted TCS’ net profit in the fourth quarter of last fiscal, what was not missed by the market was the muted growth recorded by the company with the share already enjoying a high PE of close to 25.

TCS shed Rs 107.75 on the NSE to trade at Rs 2,475.05. The other frontline IT stocks- Wipro, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech and Infosys did not lose as much but were nonetheless trading in the red. HCL Tech was down by Rs 13.95 to trade at Rs 940.30, Wipro lost Rs 13.70 to Rs 588.25, Tech Mahindra was down to Rs 634.50, a loss of Rs 21.55 and Infosys lost Rs 26.95 to trade at Rs 2,167.70.

The other major loser was MindTree, which lost Rs 58 to trade at Rs 1,333.50, despite witnessing a surge in net profit in Q 4 of last fiscal on a consolidated basis.

Among the CNX IT index stocks, only Polaris was in the green but marginally with a gain of 85 paise at Rs 169.90. All the other 19 CNX IT index stocks were in the red with the CNX IT itself losing 272 points.

Out the CNX IT, CMC Ltd, a Tata Group IT company which is to be merged with TCS , also felt the tremors of TCS’ results. The stock was down by Rs 75.10 to trade at Rs 1,897.

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