The market moved downwards after a two-week of gaining string as wary investors opted to book profits after recent gains ahead of the start of corporate earning season amid tail-end weak macroeconomic factors.

The BSE benchmark Sensex moved down by over 120 points to end to 19,663.64. Capital goods, consumer durable, FMCG, power, metal and realty stocks were at the receiving end of selling, while IT stocks flared up after India’s second largest software services exporter, Infosys, declared better-than-expected Q3 results on Friday and also raised its annual revenue guidance.

Second-line stock markets attracted heavy profit-booking by retail investors and underperformed the 30-share Sensex. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices dropped by over 2 per cent.

The Sensex resumed the week on a firm note and immediately touched a fresh two-year high of 19,856.43. It, however, could not maintain the tempo and turned negative as cautious operators and investors went on offloading ahead of Infosys’ Q3 results.

The key BSE index later dipped to settle the week at 19,663.64, a fall of 120.44 points, or 0.61 per cent. The Sensex had spurted by 542.08 points, or 2.81 per cent, in the last two weeks.

Similarly, the wide-based 50-issue Nifty of the NSE initially logged a two-year high of 6,042.15. But it succumbed to selling and fell below the 6,000-mark to end at 5,951.30, displaying a loss of 64.85 points, or 1.08 per cent.

Sharp gains registered on Friday in the morning trade due to good Q3 numbers by Infosys were later washed out after the poor industrial production data and fall in exports.