Indian equity indices opened lower on Wednesday, following their global peers, as US President Donald Trump threatened reciprocal tariffs on the global pharmaceutical sector.
Ahead of the RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decisions, where a 25 bps repo rate cut is likely, along with a shift in stance from ‘neutral’ to ‘accommodative,’ the Sensex was down 302 points, or 0.41 percent, at 73,939, and the Nifty was down 107 points, or 0.48 percent, at 22,433 in early trade.
Along with large-cap stocks, mid-cap and small-cap stocks also fell. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was down 436 points, or 0.87 percent, at 49,402, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index was down 150 points, or 0.98 percent, at 15,238.
On the sectoral front, auto, FMCG, and consumption stocks were major gainers. IT, PSU Bank, pharma, metal, realty, infra, and commodities were the major laggards.
In the Sensex pack, Power Grid, Nestle, HUL, M&M, ITC, Asian Paints, and Bharti Airtel were major gainers. Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Tech, TCS, and Sun Pharma were major losers.
Selling was seen in major Asian markets, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Seoul all in the red. The US markets closed lower on Tuesday due to recession fears.
The US has announced it will impose an additional 50 percent tariff on imports from China in response to the 34 percent retaliatory tariffs China announced last week.
The additional 50 percent duty on Chinese imports will bring the U.S. tariff rate on Chinese goods to 104 percent. Trump’s sweeping tariffs have raised fears of a recession and upended a global trading order that has been in place for decades.
-IANS
