Stock Market Highlights: In the see-saw trade following US’ imposition of 25% tariffs and penalty on India, the Indian stock markets ended in red on Thursday. The benchmark index Sensex settled nearly 300 points lower at 81,185, while Nifty fell 86 points to end at 24,768.
As of 3:00 pm, the BSE Sensex was trading lower by 300 points to trade at 81,180.13, while the NSE Nifty shed 100 points to trade below 24,800.
During afternoon, the benchmark indices recovered the losses to trade almost 150 points higher though it again turned to red near the closing of the market hours.
At the market opening, the Nifty50 had declined 182.60 points, or 0.73%, to 24,668.20, while the Sensex was down 611.48 points, or 0.75%, at 80,870.38.
The Sensex had hit the day’s low of 81,695.15 and the Nifty fell to 24,635 during the morning trade before staging a sharp recovery in the afternoon.
Trump, in a sharp rebuke, stated that India imposes “some of the highest tariffs in the world” and maintains “the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers of any country.” He also warned of further penalties tied to India’s continued energy imports from Russia.
With this announcement, India now faces one of the steepest US tariff regimes. In comparison, Vietnam faces 20% tariffs, Indonesia 19%, and Japan 15%. Brazil, meanwhile, received temporary relief from a proposed 50% tariff.
Sectors expected to be most impacted include garments, pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery, automotive, and petrochemicals—areas that form a significant part of India’s exports to the US.