Indian stock markets were expected to trade choppy this week as investors react to the release of quarterly corporate results and on concerns of a possible slowdown in the US economy, dealers said. "A lot of volatility is expected this week due to these two reasons," said Hemen Kapadia, partner at investment advisory firm Morpheus Inc.
The volatility was already evident Friday with the Mumbai stock exchange's 30-share Sensex index closing down 0.44 percent at 8,491.56 after ranging from a high of 8,586.43 and a low of 8,410.69.
Dealers said share prices will react sharply to the quarterly earnings of technology companies starting with blue chip Infosys, which kicks off the season on October 11.
Software companies such as Infosys, Tata Consultancy and Wipro are expected to post at least 12 to 15 percent sequential growth in net profits for the three months to September.
"There will be an effect on the share prices and trading will be choppy," said a fund manager with a leading domestic brokerage.
Indian companies are seen posting strong performances on the back of a booming economy which posted a 8.1 percent growth for the three-month period to June.
Kapadia said concern over economic growth in the United States was however playing heavy on the sentiment.
"We need to understand that our prices are at an all-time high ... so a trigger for a fall was always expected," he said.
He said the Sensex could fall by another 200 points in the near future.
"Even if for a day the Sensex closes this week below 8,410 points, then we can see the index touching 8,260 points," Kapadia added.
Indian stocks have been posting record gains on the back of foreign fund investments which have hit a record near nine billion dollars in Indian equity markets since January.