By Bharath Rajeswaran
(Reuters) -India’s equity benchmarks slipped on Thursday, dragged by information technology stocks on expectations of “soft” earnings for Tata Consultancy Services later in the day, and as uncertainty over a potential U.S. trade deal weighed.
The Nifty 50 closed 0.47% lower to 25,355.25 points and the BSE Sensex lost 0.41% to 83,190.28.
The broader small-caps and mid-caps lost about 0.3% each.
Eleven of the 13 major sectors logged losses.
“Market sentiment remains mildly indecisive, given the prevailing environment of heightened trade uncertainty,” said Hardik Matalia, analyst at Choice Broking.
IT stocks fell 0.8%. TCS, which is set to report first-quarter results after market hours, fell 0.8% during the session but pared most of the losses to settle marginally lower. Nine of the 10 stocks in the IT index logged losses.
Analysts expect first-quarter revenue for TCS, the first to report among its peers, to likely remain subdued due to certain project ramp-downs and client-specific challenges.
Girish Pai, analyst at BOBCAPS, also noted the risk of higher inflation from U.S. tariffs, adding that this injected “continued uncertainty for global corporations and could drag growth in IT.”
Asian markets advanced as investors shrugged off U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariff salvos. The U.S. President had also indicated earlier this week that a deal with India was near. [MKTS/GLOB]
Steady fund inflows could support the market’s floor, but a breakout above 25,500 for the Nifty needs earnings support as the U.S.-India trade deal is partly priced in, according to two analysts.
Bucking the broader trend, power financiers REC and Power Finance Corp rose 1.5% and 2.8% after Morgan Stanley began coverage with an “overweight” rating, citing benefits from the energy transition and stable asset quality.
Prestige Estates jumped 2.7% after multiple analysts reiterated a positive outlook following a 300% surge in June-quarter sales, signalling strong momentum in the real estate developer’s growth trajectory.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sonia Cheema)
