Sensex, Nifty Decline On Tariff Worries, Weak TCS Earnings; HUL Shares Rally After CEO Change

(RTTNews) - Indian shares fell notably on Friday, with weaker-than-expected Q1 earnings from TCS and escalating global trade tensions weighing on investor sentiment.

Trade worries returned to the fore after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 35 percent tariff on Canadian imports, starting Aug. 1, in a dramatic escalation of a trade war with the United States' closest ally over the country's alleged role in fentanyl flows.

He also talked about blanket tariffs of 15 percent to 20 percent on most of America's trading partners and announced plans to make a 'major statement' on Russia, denting investors' appetite for riskier assets.

The benchmark S&P/BSE Sensex hit an intraday low of 82,442 before closing down 689.91 points, or 0.83 percent, at 82,500.47.

The broader NSE Nifty index closed down 205.40 points, or 0.81 percent, at 25,149.85, after having hit a low of 25,129 earlier.

The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes fell around 0.7 percent each.

The market breadth was weak on the BSE, with 2,453 shares declining while 1,557 shares advanced and 155 shares closed unchanged.

Tata Consultancy Services, India's largest software services exporter, tumbled 3.5 percent after it reported a 3.3 percent quarter-on-quarter decline in constant currency revenue, missing Street expectations.

The company has warned of delayed client decisions and paused projects against the backdrop of a sluggish macroeconomic environment, cautious customer sentiment and geopolitical instability.

Peers Infosys, HCL Technologies and Wipro dropped 1-3 percent while Titan Company, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel and Mahindra & Mahindra gave up 2-3 percent.

On the positive side, Hindustan Unilever shares jumped 4.6 percent.

The FMCG giant announced that Priya Nair, currently heading Beauty & Wellbeing at Unilever, will take over as CEO and MD from August 1.