Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 11 (ANI): Indian stock markets on Friday ended on a negative note due to a sober start to the first quarter earnings season and a ramp-up in the tariff threat by the US of 35 per cent on goods imported in the US from Canada.

At close, the Sensex was down 689.81 points or 0.83 per cent at 82,500.47, and the Nifty was down 205.40 points or 0.81 per cent at 25,149.85.

During the trading session on the last day of the week, TCS, Bajaj Auto, M&M, Hero MotoCorp, and Wipro were the biggest Nifty losers, while gainers were HUL, SBI Life Insurance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, and IndusInd Bank.

BSE Midcap and smallcap indices shed 0.6 per cent each. Among the sectors, except FMCG (up 0.5 per cent), pharma (up 0.7 per cent), all other sectoral indices ended in the red with auto, IT, media, oil & gas, consumer durables, capital goods, realty, telecom down 1 per cent each.

Observing the market's sentiment, Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said, 'Investors may continue to be focused on quarterly earnings for a buy-on-dips strategy; however, in the near term, the current premium valuation and the global headwinds like low spending & tariff uncertainties may restrain new inflows. The IT index underperformed due to deferral in orders and new investments, which may impact FY26 earnings estimates.'

The benchmark Nifty index spent the first four trading sessions of the week trapped in a tight 200-point range, reflecting the indecision among market participants. But on Friday, the calm broke. The index opened with a sharp gap down, slipped below its consolidation zone, and faced renewed selling pressure, signalling that sentiment is beginning to tilt in favour of the bears.

'What's more alarming is that Nifty has now slipped below its crucial 20-day EMA, which has also begun to slope downward -- a classic sign of emerging weakness. The momentum indicators aren't painting a comforting picture either,' said Sudeep Shah, Head - Technical and Derivatives Research, SBI Securities.

Sudeep Shah added that amid this technical caution, macro and earnings uncertainties are only adding to investor anxiety.

'With tariff uncertainty rising globally and Q1 earnings just getting started--kicked off by TCS on Thursday--markets are entering a critical phase. Investors are now watching for signs of margin pressures, global demand outlooks, and forward guidance from corporates,' he added.

Amol Athawale, VP- Technical Research, Kotak Securities, said, 'In the last week, the benchmark indices witnessed profit booking at higher levels. The Nifty ended 1.22 per cent lower, while the Sensex was down by 925 points. Among sectors, despite weak market sentiment, the FMCG index outperformed, rallying 2.20 per cent, whereas the Defence and IT indices corrected sharply, Defence down 4.50 per cent and IT corrected by 3.90 per cent. During the week, the market witnessed range-bound activity, but last Friday, it breached the important support level of 25,300/83000, and post-breakdown, selling pressure intensified.'

Many market analysts attributed the weak market sentiment to renewed tariff concerns and lacklustre corporate earnings, particularly from the IT sector. (ANI)