Larsen & Toubro fell the most in 6 1/2 months as it dropped 6.9 percent to 1,524.35 rupees, as it reported a 6.1-percent drop in quarterly net sales and lowered its revenue guidance for the fiscal. "The thing that went wrong was topline. It is easy to get orders, but implementing them is a difficult task," said Anand Shah, head of equities at Canara Robeco Mutual Fund.
The 30-share BSE Index closed 423.35 points or 2.42 percent lower at 17,051.14, its lowest close since December 22, 2009 and its biggest percentage-point fall in 2 1/2 months. All of its components closed in the red. Top private-sector lender ICICI Bank dropped 2.7 percent to 853.35 rupees, even as it posted a lower-than-expected 13.4 percent drop in quarterly net profit, as quality of its assets hurt, dealers said.
Bharat Heavy Electricals declined 4.1 to 2,297.40 rupees on broad market declines. Energy giant Reliance Industries, which has the highest weight on the main index, dropped 2.2 percent to 1,053.80 rupees, ahead of its quarterly results on Friday.
In the broader market, four shares declined for every one share that advanced in a volume of 510 million shares, lower than last week's daily average of 651 million shares. The 50-share NSE index closed 2.4 percent lower at 5,094.15.