Sensex, Nifty open sharply lower amid tariffs concerns, IT stocks lead losses

MUMBAI — After remaining shut for a day on account of Ganesh Chaturthi, the domestic benchmark indices opened in the red on Thursday after the US imposed 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.

The BSE Sensex dropped by 624 points, or 0.77 per cent, to touch 80,162 in the early trade. The Nifty 50 declined by 183.85 points, or 0.74 per cent, to 24,528 points.

Broadcap indices were firmly in red as Nifty Midcap 100 fell 1.00 per cent, while Nifty Smallcap 100 was down 1.12 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty IT lost 1.24 per cent, Nifty Pharma was down 0.97 per cent, and Nifty Realty slipped 1.42 per cent. All sectoral indices were in the red.

In the Nifty pack Hero MotoCorp led the gainers with 1.68 per cent surge followed by Asian Paints, Cipla, Tata Consumer and Titan Company. Major laggards were Shriram Finance (down 2.85 per cent), ICICI Bank, HCL Tech, Jio Financial, NTPC, Hindalco Industries.

"On the technical front, a decisive move above 24,850 could pave the way for an upside toward 25,000 and 25,150 zones. The immediate support is placed at 24,670, followed by 24,500 levels that may attract fresh long positions," said Amruta Shinde from Choice Equity Broking.

Analysts believe that the 50 per cent tariff imposed on India by US, which has already gone into effect, will have an impact on market sentiment in the near term. However, the market is unlikely to panic because it will see the high tariffs as a short-term aberration that will be resolved soon.

"The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant's comment that 'at the end of the day India and US will come together' indicates the likely outcome. Any selling by FIIs will be easily neutralised by the aggressive buying by DIIs," said Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

Asia-Pacific markets traded mix on Thursday as investors digested the Bank of Korea policy decision.

South Korea’s central bank kept its policy rate unchanged at 2.5 per cent for its second consecutive meeting despite an uncertain trade environment for the country.

The US markets inched up overnight, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.32 per cent, while the Nasdaq advanced by 0.21 per cent and the S&P 500 gained 0.24 per cent.

The Asian markets traded mixed in the morning session. China's Shanghai index dipped 0.09 per cent, while Shenzen added 0.26 per cent. Japan's Nikkei was up 0.50 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 0.84 per cent and South Korea's Kospi gained 0.53 per cent.

On Tuesday, foreign institutional investors net sold Rs 6,517 crore worth of Indian equities, marking their highest selling since May 20. Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 7,060 crore, according to provisional exchange data.