Indian shares log weekly losses on risk aversion amid Q4 earnings

Indian shares were subdued on Friday, snapping a three-week winning streak, as investors remained cautious after a weak outlook from HCLTech Ltd and ahead of the quarterly earnings of Reliance Industries Ltd, the country's top firm by market capitalisation.

The Nifty 50 closed 0.40 points lower to 17,624.05, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.04% to 59,655.06. Both indexes lost over 1% this week.

Eight of the 13 major sectoral indexes declined. HCLTech, India's third-largest IT firm by revenue, rose over 1% after reporting a rise in net profit.

But investors remained cautious as the company forecast lower-than-expected revenue growth for fiscal year 2024 due to spending cuts and project ramp-downs.

IT stocks , which gained 0.69% on Friday, lost 5.39% for the week, following weak results from Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and Infosys Ltd. Tech Mahindra shed 2.26% after global brokerage JP Morgan downgraded the stock to "underweight" from "neutral".

All eyes are now on Reliance's earnings, due after market hours on Friday.

Analysts expect markets to remain choppy in the near term, as earnings trickle in.

"The Nifty patterns suggest that major declines are unlikely as long as the benchmark trades above the immediate support level of 17,550," analysts at brokerage SMIFS said.

"(The) time is ripe to accumulate quality stocks, which have shown resilience during the recent corrective move," Ajit Mishra, vice-president of technical research at Religare Broking, said.

Among individual stocks, Cyient Ltd jumped nearly 6% after reporting a 48% rise in revenue in the March quarter, owing to a strong deal pipeline.

FMCG major ITC Ltd rose 2% and hit a record high. The stock was the top gainer in Nifty 50 index and its market capitalisation rose above lender HDFC during the session to become the seventh most-valued listed company in India.

($1 = 82.2400 Indian rupees)