Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty slipped in early trade on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed an additional 25% tariff, doubling the existing duty to 50%, on Indian goods. The move comes in response to New Delhi’s continued import of Russian oil.
The steep hike in duties is expected to significantly impact key Indian export sectors, including textiles, marine products, and leather goods. India condemned the decision as “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable.” With this action, India and Brazil will face the highest U.S. tariff rate of 50%, specifically over oil trade ties with Russia.
At the opening bell, the 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 335.71 points, trading at 80,208.28, while the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 114.15 points to 24,460.05.
Among the Sensex constituents, Adani Ports, Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Eternal, Tata Steel, and NTPC were among the top losers. On the other hand, Trent, Titan, Sun Pharma, and ITC posted gains.
In broader Asian markets, indices such as South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225, Shanghai’s SSE Composite, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were trading in positive territory. U.S. markets also closed higher on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹4,999.10 crore on Wednesday, according to stock exchange data.
On the commodities front, Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 1% to $67.56 per barrel.
In the previous session (Wednesday), the Sensex had declined 166.26 points (0.21%) to close at 80,543.99, while the Nifty slipped 75.35 points (0.31%) to end at 24,574.20.
