MUMBAI– Indian equities ended lower on Tuesday as investor sentiment wavered following U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat against India and New Delhi’s sharp response.
The Sensex closed at 80,710.25, down 308.47 points or 0.38 percent. The 30-share index opened slightly lower at 80,946.43 from Monday’s close of 81,018.72, but losses deepened as mixed trading in auto and consumer durables was outweighed by selling in pharma and consumer goods.
The Nifty ended at 24,649.55, down 73 points or 0.30 percent.
“Sectoral trends remained mixed, as auto and consumer durables showed relative strength, while most other sectors ended in the red,” Ashika Institutional Equities said in a note. “Notably, oil & gas, pharma, construction, and consumer goods experienced pronounced weakness.”
Caution ahead of Wednesday’s monetary policy announcement also weighed on sentiment, with banking stocks facing renewed selling pressure in the second half of the session.
Reliance Industries, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Eternal, BEL, Power Grid, and HDFC Bank were among the top losers, while Titan, Maruti, Trent, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, L&T, SBI, and Tech Mahindra closed higher.
Among sectoral indices, Nifty Fin Services fell 103 points (0.39 percent), Nifty Bank slipped 259 points (0.47 percent), Nifty IT dropped 168 points (0.48 percent), and Nifty FMCG shed 405 points. Nifty Auto was the lone gainer.
The rupee weakened to 87.80 against the U.S. dollar as markets reacted to Trump’s late-evening social media post hinting at higher tariffs on India.
“Expectations that the U.S. may pressure India to reduce Russian oil imports sparked fears of a higher import bill, pushing the rupee briefly below the 88 mark overnight,” said Jateen Trivedi of LKP Securities. Some recovery followed after the Ministry of External Affairs reaffirmed India’s position on crude purchases, he added. (Source: IANS)
