The Indian stock market closed in negative territory on Tuesday, as investors reacted cautiously to US President Donald Trump’s fresh tariff threat and India’s strong response.
The Sensex ended at 80,710.25, down 308.47 points or 0.38%. It opened slightly lower at 80,946.43 compared to the previous close of 81,018.72, and losses deepened through the session amid mixed trends in auto and consumer durable stocks, along with selling pressure in the pharma and consumer goods sectors.
The Nifty settled at 24,649.55, losing 73 points or 0.30%.
“Sectoral trends remained mixed, with auto and consumer durables showing relative strength, while most other sectors closed in the red. Notably, oil & gas, pharma, construction, and consumer goods experienced notable weakness,” said Ashika Institutional Equities in a note.
It added, “Caution prevailed ahead of tomorrow’s monetary policy announcement, leading to renewed selling pressure in banking stocks during the second half of the session.”
Top losers included Reliance Industries, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Eternal, BEL, PowerGrid, and HDFC Bank, while Titan, Maruti, Trent, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, L&T, SBI, and Tech Mahindra ended in the green.
Most sectoral indices ended lower amid mixed sentiment. Nifty Fin Services declined 103 points or 0.39%, Nifty Bank dropped 259 points or 0.47%, Nifty IT fell 168 points or 0.48%, and Nifty FMCG closed 405 points down. Nifty Auto managed to close in positive territory.
The rupee traded weak at 87.80, as markets reacted to a late-evening social media post by the US President hinting at higher tariffs on India.
“Expectations that the US may pressure India to cut Russian oil imports sparked fears of a higher import bill, briefly pushing the rupee below the 88.00 mark overnight,” said Jateen Trivedi of LKP Securities.
Some recovery in the rupee was seen after the Ministry of External Affairs clarified India’s position on crude oil purchases, he added.
-IANS