Mumbai: Stock markets witnessed a sharp fall on Thursday as investor confidence took a hit after the United States imposed additional tariffs on Indian goods. The Sensex fell by 706 points, closing at 80,080.57, while the Nifty dropped 211 points, ending the day at 24,500.90. This comes after US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose an extra 25 percent tariff on Indian imports, bringing the total tariff to 50 percent. The move is seen as a response to India’s continued purchase of oil from Russia.
The impact of tariffs
The impact of these tariffs was clearly visible in market behavior. Several heavyweight stocks led the decline, including HCL Tech, Infosys, Power Grid, TCS, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, and ICICI Bank. On the other hand, Titan, Larsen & Toubro, Maruti, and Axis Bank managed to stay in the green, offering some support to the falling indices.
What experts say?
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said the market was under pressure as investor mood soured following the tariff implementation. Though the government’s announcement to extend duty-free cotton imports till December 31 gave a temporary lift to market hopes - especially for textile exporters - the recovery was short-lived. Investors remained cautious, and the session ended with broad-based selling, especially in midcap and smallcap stocks.
The Mixed Global Mood
The global mood was mixed. While South Korea, Japan, and China saw gains in their stock indices, Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed lower. European markets were also trading with mixed cues. Meanwhile, the US markets had ended positively on Wednesday, but that had little effect on the Indian markets due to the tariff news.
FIIs sold equities
Adding to the pressure, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth over Rs 6,500 crore on Tuesday. Though Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) purchased stocks worth Rs 7,060 crore, it wasn't enough to balance the market.
It’s also worth noting that the domestic markets were closed on Wednesday due to Ganesh Chaturthi. The last trading day (Tuesday) had already seen a steep fall, with the Sensex plunging 849 points and the Nifty losing 255 points.
