Indian shares inch lower as IT stocks outweigh HUL gains

Indian shares edged lower in early trade on Friday, as a slide in IT stocks following Tata Consultancy Services’ TCS weak results outweighed gains in consumer giant Hindustan Unilever HINDUNILVR.

The Nifty 50 NIFTY fell 0.37% to 25,262 points, while the BSE Sensex SENSEX lost 0.41% to 82,854.18 as of 10:13 a.m. IST.

Ten of the 13 major sectors were down. The broader small- CNXSMALLCAP and mid-caps CNXMIDCAP traded about 0.6% lower each.

Investors also weighed comments from U.S. President Donald Trump, who said he would impose a 35% tariff on imports from Canada next month and was considering blanket tariffs of 15% to 20% on most other trade partners.

The IT index CNXIT fell 1.1, dragged by an about 2.1%drop in TCS, and its peers Infosys INFY1! and Wipro WIPRO.

TCS, India's top software services exporter, missed first quarter revenue estimates on Thursday as its clients stayed cautious about non-essential spending amid tariff-related uncertainty.

"We are seeing companies not delivering on earnings getting punished in the market," said Vinit Bolinjkar, head of research at Ventura Securities.

Hindustan Unilever HINDUNILVR surged 4.4, and was on course for its biggest daily percentage gains in over a year, after the consumer goods maker named Priya Nair, an insider at its parent Unilever ULVR, as its chief executive.

Among other stocks, Tata Elxsi TATAELXSI and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency IREDA fell about 4% and 5%, respectively, while Anand Rathi Wealth ANANDRATHI added 5% following the first quarter earnings.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals GLENMARK surged 10% a day after its unit signed an exclusive licensing deal with U.S. peer AbbVie ABBV for its cancer treatment.

Bolinjkar expects the market to remain stock-specific in the near term amid earnings season, but sees broader downside risks due to tariff uncertainty and likely pressure on bank net interest margins.