Indian shares ended a volatile session marginally lower on Friday notwithstanding positive Asian and European cues. Traders remained cautious ahead of inflation data due on Monday, although there is little chance of a rate cut on July 31.
The rupee was firmer against the dollar, but provisional data showed that India's exports fell 5.45 percent to $25.1 billion in June from a year earlier, prompting investors to pare long positions going into the weekend. TCS and HDFC Bank announced quarterly earnings in line with estimates, helping limit the downside to a great extent.
Reversing early gains, the benchmark BSE Sensex ended the day down 19 points or 0.11 percent at 17,214, while the broader Nifty index fell by 8 points or 0.15 percent to 5,227. Consumer durable, realty and metal stocks paced the decliners, while FMCG and oil/gas stocks witnessed stock-specific buying.
Private sector lender HDFC Bank rose 1.2 percent as it reported a 31 percent rise in first-quarter profit, in line with estimates. However, rival ICICI Bank edged down 0.2 percent and public sector lender SBI fell 1.7 percent.
TCS, India's largest software exporter, rose 1.1 percent after it beat street estimates by reporting a 38 percent year-on-year and 12 percent quarter-on-quarter growth in earnings.
Wipro ended largely unchanged and HCL Technologies added 0.4 percent, while Infosys ended 1.7 percent lower, extending the previous session's sell-off after issuing weak revenue guidance for the fiscal year to March 13.
Data shows that state-run LIC has hiked its stake in Infosys to a record 6.3 percent with purchase of shares worth an estimated Rs 2,000 crore during the quarter ended June.
Telecom stocks turned in a mixed performance after industry regulator TRAI said mobile tariffs will rise 5-10 paise if its proposals on spectrum pricing are implemented. Bharti Airtel rose half a percent and Idea Cellular gained 0.4 percent, but Reliance Communication slid 0.8 percent.
SKS Microfinance plunged 7.3 percent after the company said it expects to incur an operational loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2013. NIIT slipped 0.6 percent after it strengthened its partnership with Department of Income Tax to create a certified pool of Tax Return Preparers.
Divis Laboratories ended down 0.4 percent after the company said it doesn't have any business dealings or transactions with Divis Pharma, one of the several companies that AP Pollution Control Board has served orders or closure notices. Shares of Aurobindo Pharma lost 1.4 percent.
Karnataka Bank eased 0.6 percent on reports of a merger deal with a private bank. BPCL fell 1.5 percent and Titan Industries retreated 3.1 percent on going ex-dividend.
Bosch rose 0.3 percent after it decided to suspend manufacturing operations at its Bangalore plant for two days to avoid unnecessary buildup of inventory. Sintex Industries climbed 3.2 percent before announcing its first-quarter results after market hours.
On the global front, Asian markets snapped a six-day losing streak after China's much-anticipated second-quarter GDP growth data came in line with analyst expectations. With the growth hitting a three-year low and separate reports showing slowing retail sales and industrial production growth in the world's second-largest economy, investors speculated that Beijing will step up efforts to curb financial risks.
European stocks also gained ground as news that Italy successfully sold bonds worth euro 3.5 billion offset worries concerning a surprise downgrade of Italy's government bond rating by Moody's.
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Market Analysis
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.