Markets Open Lower As Global Trade Tensions Rattle Investors

The Indian equity markets opened the week cautiously due to global trade policy uncertainty.

At 9:19 AM, Sensex dropped 212 points or 0.24% to 82,301. Nifty declined by 49 points or 0.20%, settling at 25,104.

The broader market managed modest gains, with marginal buying seen in midcap and smallcap stocks.

The Nifty Midcap 100 rose by 0.16% to 58,736, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 advanced by 0.14% to 18,788.

According to market analysts, weakness in IT stocks was a primary factor behind the decline.

“This weakness may persist, particularly as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were major sellers in the cash market last Friday,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Banking sector provides support

Interestingly, the banking and financial sectors showed relative strength in an otherwise weak market.

“This outperformance may continue, as concerns about net interest margin (NIM) compression in Q1 results have already been priced in. Dips in banking stocks should be seen as buying opportunities,” Vijayakumar added.

Sectorally, performance was mixed. Gains were seen in auto, PSU banks, metals, realty, and energy sectors, while IT, financial services, pharma, FMCG, media, and infrastructure posted losses.

In the Sensex pack, top gainers included Trent, Power Grid, Sun Pharma, Titan, NTPC, Maruti Suzuki, Axis Bank, M&M, SBI, and Tata Steel.

Meanwhile, major laggards were Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, Tech Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, L&T, HCL Tech, Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and HUL.

Institutional activity reflects bearish tone

FIIs were net sellers, offloading ₹5,104 crore worth of equities on July 11. DIIs supported the market, investing ₹3,558 crore during the same session.

Across the Asia-Pacific region, markets traded mixed as investors weighed in on escalating trade tensions.

The mood turned cautious after US President Donald Trump announced a 30% tariff on imports from the EU and Mexico, effective from August 1.

In response, the EU delayed retaliatory tariffs to keep diplomatic talks open.

As global uncertainty looms and sectoral divergences deepen, Indian markets are expected to remain volatile in the near term.

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