The Indian stock market ended lower on Tuesday as investor sentiment turned cautious following US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat and India’s firm response.
The Sensex settled at 80,710.25, down 308.47 points or 0.38 per cent. The 30-share index opened slightly lower at 80,946.43, compared to the previous close of 81,018.72.
Losses deepened through the session due to a mixed trend in Auto and Consumer Durable stocks and selling pressure in Pharma and Consumer Goods.
Nifty closed at 24,649.55, falling 73 points or 0.30 per cent.
Mixed Sectoral Cues Drag Indices
“Sectoral trends remained mixed, as Auto and Consumer Durables showed relative strength, while most other sectors ended in the red. Notably, Oil & Gas, Pharma, Construction, and Consumer Goods experienced pronounced weakness,” said Ashika Institutional Equities in a note.
“Ahead of tomorrow’s monetary policy announcement, caution prevailed, and banking stocks came under renewed selling pressure during the second half of the session,” the firm added.
Top losers included Reliance Industries, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Eternal, BEL, Powergrid, and HDFC Bank. On the other hand, Titan, Maruti, Trent, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, L&T, SBI, and Tech Mahindra closed in positive territory.
Banking, FMCG and IT Sectors Underperform
Most sectoral indices ended the day in negative territory. Nifty Fin Services fell 103 points or 0.39 per cent. Nifty Bank declined 259 points or 0.47 per cent. Nifty IT dropped 168 points or 0.48 per cent, and Nifty FMCG lost 405 points. However, Nifty Auto remained in the green.
The rupee traded weak at 87.80 as markets reacted to a social media post from President Trump hinting at increased tariffs on India.
“Expectations that the US may pressure India to reduce Russian oil imports sparked fears of a higher import bill, pushing the rupee briefly below the 88.00 mark overnight,” said Jateen Trivedi of LKP Securities.
He noted that some recovery followed after the Ministry of External Affairs clarified India’s stance on crude purchases.
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