Indian stock markets opened under pressure on Friday as continued tariff tensions led by US President Donald Trump and weak earnings from the IT sector weighed on investor sentiment.
The benchmark Nifty 50 index opened at 25,255.50, down by 99.75 points or 0.39 per cent, while the BSE Sensex declined by 369.52 points or 0.44 per cent to open at 82,820.76.
Experts attributed the weak opening to renewed tariff concerns and lacklustre corporate earnings, particularly from the IT sector.
Ajay Bagga, a banking and market expert, told ANI, “Tariff Tantrums are back centre stage. So far the markets have been resilient to the latest round of Trump Tariff letters. Brazilian currency and markets fell after Brazil was hit with a higher than expected 50 per cent tariff. This morning the news of 35 per cent tariffs on Canada have led to US stock futures being subdued.”
He further added, “Trump also said in an interview with NBC that ‘blanket tariffs’ of 15 per cent to 20 per cent will be levied on all countries that have not got tariff letters so far. India and EU stand out as two large partners of US that have not got any deals so far, despite Trump mentioning them on a nearly daily basis.”
The recent weak performance of India’s IT sector has further dampened sentiment.
“IT sector’s weak performance will keep the sector subdued as the results and guidances provided so far have been underwhelming,” Bagga noted.
In the absence of any fresh triggers, markets that have already priced in a base tariff of 10 per cent for India along with higher sectoral tariffs are now looking for more clarity.
Among the broader market indices on NSE, all segments opened in the red. Nifty 100 declined by 0.24 per cent, Nifty Midcap 100 by 0.10 per cent, and Nifty Smallcap by 0.23 per cent.
On the sectoral front, all major indices except Nifty FMCG, Nifty Pharma, and Nifty PSU Bank opened with losses. Nifty IT was the worst performer, falling by 1.67 per cent, followed by Nifty Media which was down by 1.43 per cent. Nifty Auto also slipped by 0.33 per cent.
Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research at Axis Securities, said, “The Nifty ended down yesterday as tariff-led uncertainty spooked sentiment. Technically speaking, the lack of upside follow-through meant bulls clearly did not have the green light to build up on any optimism. They barely managed to hold the market above vital support at 25332 yesterday, so a break below this level risks 25200. On the upside, 25548 will be an important short-term hurdle.”
In today’s corporate earnings calendar, companies including Avenue Supermarts, Elecon Engineering Company, Madhya Bharat Agro Products, Aditya Birla Money, Amal, Nath Bio-Genes, Emerald Finance, Droneacharya Aerial Innovations, Superhouse, Astonea Labs, Panyam Cements and Mineral Industries, Jagsonpal Finance and Leasing, Monotype India, and Swarna Securities are scheduled to report their quarterly financial results.
Meanwhile, in the broader Asian markets, sentiment was largely positive with the exception of Japan’s Nikkei 225, which was down by 0.13 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 1.28 per cent, Taiwan’s Weighted index was up 0.08 per cent, Singapore’s Straits Times gained 0.54 per cent, and South Korea’s KOSPI edged higher by 0.06 per cent at the time of filing this report. (ANI)
