“Sensex Drops 300 Points, Nifty Slips Below 25,900 as IT Stocks Weigh”

Sensex Falls 331 Points, Nifty Below 25,900; IT and Auto Stocks Lead Declines.

Indian benchmark indices opened sharply lower on Tuesday, weighed down by renewed profit-booking and concerns over trade tensions after reports that US President Donald Trump hinted at possible fresh tariffs on Indian rice. By 12:00 PM, the BSE Sensex had fallen 331 points (0.39%) to 84,771.59, while the NSE Nifty slipped 93.65 points (0.36%) to 25,866.90.

Heavyweights including Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, Trent, Reliance Industries, TCS, Ultratech Cement, Tata Steel, M&M, Tata Motors PV, HCL Tech, and BEL dragged the indices lower, with declines of up to 3.6%. Only Hindustan Unilever and Bharti Airtel remained in the green on the 30-share Sensex.

In contrast, broader markets outperformed, with the Nifty MidCap index rising 0.8% and the Nifty SmallCap index up 0.42%.

Sector Performance:

Nifty IT, Auto, and Financial Services slipped nearly 1% each. PSU Bank, FMCG, Media, Consumer Durables, and Chemicals also traded in the red, reflecting broad-based weakness.

Global Cues:
Markets in Asia followed the negative trend, with China’s CSI 300 down 0.11%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng down 0.41%, Japan’s Nikkei down 0.11%, and South Korea’s KOSPI down 0.39%. The moves came after US President Trump approved H200 chip sales to China, benefiting the US government.

In the US, Dow Jones (-0.45%), S&P 500 (-0.35%), and Nasdaq (-0.14%) closed lower on Monday. Investors now await the Federal Reserve policy decision due on Wednesday.