The BSE benchmark Sensex slipped by nearly 117 points in the opening trade on Thursday, as IT stocks suffered setback after the industry bellwether Infosys Technologies posted third quarter earnings lower than the market expectations.

The 30-share barometer, which had gained 337.76 points in the previous session, declined by 116.95 points at 19,417.15 points.

Similarly, National Stock Exchange index Nifty declined by 32.15 points to 5,831.10 level.

Brokers said market turned bearish after Infosys Technologies declared lower-than-expected third quarter earnings, triggering massive selling of IT companies shares.

However, they said, firming trend in global markets restricted losses on the domestic bourses here.

Infosys Technologies on Thursday reported 14.17 percent growth in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1,780 crore for the third quarter ended 31st December 2010.

The company share was trading at Rs 3257.65, which was down by over three percent since its closing price on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, in other markets in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei was 0.56 percent up while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose by 0.71 percent in the morning trade on Thursday.

In the US, Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.72 percent higher in the Wednesday’s trade.