Markets decline in early trade dragged down by selling pressure in IT stocks; TCS down by 2%

Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Friday dragged down by selling pressure in IT stocks post earnings announcement by TCS.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 398.45 points to 82,791.83 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 111.25 points to 25,244.

From the Sensex firms, Tata Consultancy Services traded nearly 2 per cent lower after reporting its June quarter earnings. Country's largest IT services company TCS on Thursday reported a 6 per cent growth in June quarter net profit at Rs 12,760 crore, helped by a jump in non-core income even as revenues grew at a tepid pace.

The rupee revenue grew 1.3 per cent to Rs 63,437 crore during the quarter, but was down by over 3 per cent on a constant currency basis, as the company faced headwinds in its major markets amid a winding down of the BSNL deal which helped it in recent quarters.

"Q1 results of TCS indicate continuing struggle for IT companies, particularly large cap IT. However, midcap IT is likely to do well," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech and Bajaj Finserv were among the other major laggards from the pack.

However, Hindustan Unilever, Axis Bank, NTPC and Asian Paints were among the gainers.

"TCS Q1 FY26 results beat street expectations with a 6 per cent profit rise, though demand contraction due to geopolitical uncertainties capped excitement. Nifty bulls may remain under pressure amid Trump’s tariff threats and hawkish Fed tones," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng were trading higher.

The US markets ended in the positive territory on Thursday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.35 per cent to USD 68.88 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 221.06 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

On Thursday, the Sensex dropped 345.80 points or 0.41 per cent to settle at 83,190.28. On similar lines, the Nifty declined 120.85 points or 0.47 per cent to 25,355.25.