Sensex declines 300 pts, Nifty below 24,650: Trump's renewed tariff threat among key factors behind market fall

Sensex, Nifty decline amid profit-booking in shares. 

The benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty traded lower on Tuesday, dragged down by selling in oil and gas shares and persistent foreign fund outflows, as investor sentiment took a hit following fresh tariff threats from US President Donald Trump.

Sensex fell by 308.47 points or 0.38 percent to 80,710.25, while the Nifty dropped to 24,649.55, down 73.20 points or 0.3 percent.

Infosys, Bharat Electronics, Asian Paints ,ICICI Bank and Adani Enterprises were among the major laggards in the Nifty pack.

Key factors behind market decline:

1) Trump’s tariff warning: Investor mood turned cautious after Trump threatened to impose higher tariffs on India over its Russian oil imports. In a social media post, Trump alleged that India was profiting from Russian oil purchases and announced plans to "substantially raise tariffs" on Indian goods.

"India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then selling it on the open market for big profits. Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA," Trump wrote.

Commenting on the development, V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, "If Trump follows through, it could strain India-US trade relations further and hurt India’s exports. The market has not priced in such a risk."

India has termed Trump's remarks as "unjustified and unreasonable" and asserted that it will protect its economic interests.

2) FII selling continues: Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 2,566.51 crore on Monday, continuing their recent selling spree. Persistent FII outflows exert pressure on domestic equities, impacting market stability and sentiment.

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3) Rupee under pressure: The Indian rupee depreciated by 29 paise to 87.95 against the US dollar on Tuesday. Forex dealers said Trump's tariff remarks further weighed on the rupee, which may remain under pressure this week.

4) Oil & gas shares decline: Heavy selling was witnessed in oil and gas counters, with the Nifty Oil & Gas index slipping nearly 1 percent. Out of the 15 constituents, 12 ended in the red, as tariff concerns triggered profit booking.

5) RBI policy outcome eyed: Investors are now awaiting the outcome of the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting scheduled on Wednesday. While retail inflation has eased to a six-year low, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra had recently indicated a cautious approach towards further rate cuts.

Technical view

Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, “Though Nifty failed to breach the previous day’s high, the close above 24,670 keeps the upsides intact. We look at 24,900 and 25,261 as the next resistance levels. However, if Nifty slips below 24,670, the upside bias will weaken, though a sharp fall is less expected in the immediate term.”

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