Sensex Tanks 537 Points, Nifty Slips Below 24,700 After Trump Slaps 25% Tariff on India.
Indian stock markets opened sharply lower on Thursday, reacting to US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 25% tariff on Indian imports, along with a proposed penalty over defence and energy ties with Russia. The unexpected move triggered broad selling across sectors and spooked investor sentiment.
At 9:26 am, the BSE Sensex fell 536.92 points to 80,944.94, while the NSE Nifty50 slipped 156.35 points to 24,698.70, breaking below the key 24,700 mark.
Expert Take
Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, called the development “very bad news for Indian exports” and warned that it could impact short-term GDP growth and market performance. He added, however, that the tariff could be scaled back once negotiations begin in mid-August.
“This is classic Trump strategy—start high to negotiate lower. The final tariff may settle closer to 20% or less,” Vijayakumar said.
Market Snapshot
Major Losers
Reliance Industries: -1.47%
Bharti Airtel: -1.46%
ICICI Bank: -0.84%
Bajaj Finance: -0.86%
HCL Tech: -0.81%
Top Gainers
Eternal: +1.73%
Power Grid: +0.95%
Tata Steel: +0.25%
HUL: +0.08%
ITC: +0.06%
Sectoral Impact
Most sectoral indices opened in the red:
Nifty Oil & Gas: -1.58%
Nifty Auto: -1.25%
Consumer Durables: -1.05%
IT: -0.78%
PSU Bank: -0.89%
Others like Realty, Pharma, Metal, and FMCG also traded lower.
The broader market also came under pressure, with the Nifty Midcap100 down 0.90% and Smallcap100 lower by 0.73%. Meanwhile, market volatility surged, with the India VIX jumping 7.29%.
Despite the dip, Vijayakumar believes Nifty is unlikely to fall below its key support level of 24,500. He advised investors to look for buying opportunities in domestic consumption-driven sectors like private banks, telecom, capital goods, hotels, cement, and select auto stocks that reported strong Q1 numbers.
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