Stock Market Today: India’s benchmark indices, the Sensex and Nifty, opened lower on Thursday, following declines in Asian markets. Investors grew cautious about potential US tariff measures and their inflationary impact, and concerns over slowing earnings growth, high valuations, and uncertain US trade policies contributed to the selling pressure in equities.
At 10 am, the Sensex dropped 271.61 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 75,667.57, while the Nifty fell by 60.85 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 22,872.05. Of the total shares, 2,089 advanced, 977 declined, and 134 remained unchanged.
Among the top gainers on the Nifty 50, Cipla, BEL, NTPC, Hindalco, and Shriram Finance. On the downside, HUL, M&M, ITC, Maruti, and HDFC Bank were the biggest decliners.
On Wednesday, Trump announced plans to impose 25 per cent or more tariffs on imports of autos, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors. Among Asian economies, South Korea and Japan have the highest exposure to US auto exports, while India is heavily reliant on the US pharmaceutical market.
Broader Market
In the broader market, both the BSE Smallcap and BSE Midcap indices dropped by 0.4 per cent. Since their record highs, the mid-cap index has fallen by 17 per cent, while the small-cap index has declined by 21 per cent.
Sectorial Update
In terms of sectoral performance, financials and FMCG stocks pressured the Nifty 50, while oil & gas and IT stocks offered some support.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, noted, “Trump’s tariff talks continue to impact markets. Trump’s declaration yesterday that the US will impose 25 per cent tariffs on automobiles, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals impacted India’s pharma stocks since India’s leading pharma companies are major exporters to the US. If this is implemented in early April as Trump declared, it will impact the US, too, through shortages and higher prices. It appears that Trump’s intention is to negotiate and extract concessions before tariffs are imposed. It remains to be seen how this will pan out.”
“A positive news is the RBI indicating growth recovery in H2 FY25. This bodes well for growth and earnings recovery in FY26. Market will start responding positively to the high frequency data indicating growth recovery. Beaten down midcaps like defence stocks are witnessing some buying,” he added.
