Indices down as US downgrade hits IT stocks; broader mkts gain

THE EQUITY BENCHMARKS inched lower on Monday, in tandem with global stocks, after Moody's lowered its rating on the U.S. The broader mid-cap and small-cap stocks, however, continued to rally on rising bets of an RBI rate cut.

- VIVEK KUMAR M & BHARATH RAJESWARAN

The Nifty 50 fell 0.3% to end at 24,945.45 and the Sensex closed 0.33% lower at 82,059.42. They swung between 0.2% gains and 0.4% losses during the session.

Global stocks dropped and U.S. Treasury yields rose as Moody's downgrade of the U.S. government's credit rating to "AA1" from "AAA" raised concerns about the country's debt and rising deficits.

Domestically, IT companies, which get a major portion of their revenue from the U.S., dropped 1.3% and were the biggest drag on the benchmarks.