BENGALURU: Indian shares closed lower on Thursday, dragged by a slide in information technology (IT) stocks on weak earnings by Tata Consultancy Services, while investors await results of peers Infosys and HCLTech, as well as key inflation data.
The NSE Nifty 50 index settled 0.09% lower at 19,794, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.10% at 66,408.39.
The IT index fell 1.67%, with top three companies TCS, Infosys and HCLTech losing nearly 2% each.
TCS on Wednesday missed second-quarter revenue estimates and flagged persistent weakness in client spending, while Infosys and HCLTech are due to report results after closing bell.
“While order visibility is strong, expect weakness in client spending and tepid outlook to be a broader theme for large-cap IT companies’ earnings in September quarter,” said Deven Choksey, managing director of KR Choksey Investment Managers.
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Investors await India’s retail inflation for September, scheduled at 5:30 p.m. IST, which likely eased to 5.50%, within the Reserve Bank of India’s tolerance band, according to a Reuters poll.
U.S. inflation print, due later on Thursday is also keenly awaited as it could influence the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy decision in November.
While the benchmarks were muted, the domestically focussed small- and mid-caps gained 0.17% and 0.65%, respectively, on hopes of strong near-term returns and persistent retail inflows.
Mining companies like MMTC, Coal India, NMDC, Moil surged between 1.7% and 20% after the government approved royalty rates for strategic minerals.
Aster DM Healthcare gained 4.97% after a Bloomberg report said that several private equity firms are eying the company’s assets.
Meanwhile, real estate stocks, which had gained 7.26% in three sessions after RBI’s rate pause, lost 0.18%.
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