Indian equities opened in negative territory on Friday, mirroring weak global sentiment and fresh concerns over new US tariffs announced by President Donald Trump.
Pharmaceutical shares bore the brunt of the selling pressure, dragging the Nifty Pharma index down by 2.75 per cent.
At 9:25 AM, the Nifty 50 index slipped 51 points or 0.21 per cent to 24,716, while the BSE Sensex fell 179 points or 0.22 per cent, trading at 81,005.
In contrast, broader markets showed slight resilience. The BSE MidCap and BSE SmallCap indices edged up 0.05 per cent each.
Sector-wise, the Nifty FMCG index stood out with a gain of 1.46 per cent. However, weakness prevailed in other segments: Nifty IT declined by 0.80 per cent and Nifty Metal fell by 0.99 per cent.
Among Nifty constituents, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) emerged as the top gainer with a 4.45 per cent jump.
Tata Consumer Products, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, and Trent also posted notable gains.
On the losing side, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories dropped 1.41 per cent, followed by declines in Cipla, ONGC, Larsen & Toubro, and Tata Steel.
“Despite Nifty’s bounce yesterday, the index remains vulnerable unless it sustains a move above the 24,800 mark. A close above this level could potentially open the path toward the 25,000 level. On the downside, immediate support is at 24,600, followed by 24,500,” stated Hardik Matalia of Choice Equity Broking.
He advised traders to adopt a cautious stance, noting, “As elevated volatility and conflicting technical signals prevail, traders are advised to follow a cautious ‘sell-on-rise’ approach, especially when using leverage. Book partial profits during rallies and maintain tight trailing stop-losses. Fresh long positions should be considered only if the Nifty manages to sustain above the 25,000 mark.”
President Trump signed an executive order on 31 July to revise tariff rates on several countries, including:
- Syria,
- Laos,
- South Africa, and
- Myanmar
The announcement of new duties ranging from 10 to 41 per cent dampened market sentiment globally.
Despite strong earnings reports from tech majors Microsoft and Meta Platforms, US markets remained subdued.
The S&P 500 dipped 0.37 per cent, posting its third straight session of losses.
The Dow Jones fell 0.74 per cent, while the Nasdaq Composite edged down by 0.03 per cent.
Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, remarked, “In the near term, the market will be influenced by the tariff-related news. Since the date of implementation of the modified tariff rates is August 7, countries have time to negotiate to bring the tariffs down. Yesterday’s market action indicates that the market views the 25 per cent tariff as a short-term issue.”
In Asia, sentiment remained cautious. South Korea’s Kospi saw the steepest fall, down 2.94 per cent.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.38 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.10 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index bucked the trend slightly, rising 0.13 per cent.
On the domestic front, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to pull out, selling equities worth Rs 5,588 crore on 31 July, marking their ninth consecutive session of outflows.
Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) remained buyers for the 19th straight session, infusing Rs 6,372 crore into Indian markets.
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