Trump tariff flip-flop: How Indian markets fared in April as compared to global peers

Trump tariff flip-flop: How Indian markets fared in April as compared to global peers

Global markets have seen strong volatility in the recent days as US President Donald Trump's imposition and removal of reciprocal tariffs heightened uncertainties. Indian stock markets too were no exception, seeing strong downturn initially and then significant rally after tariff pause.

India has emerged as one of the five most resilient major markets globally, falling less than 3.5 percent since US President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs, marking a sign of investor confidence despite trade tensions. Here's how the Indian benchmark indices performed in comparison to their global peers in the month so far.

Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty have seen significant volatility in the past few sessions. After Trump unveiled the plan to impose 26 percent tariff on Indian imports on April 2, Sensex crashed over 2,000 points on April 4 while Nifty dropped over 3 percent.

However, the indices sharply recovered on April 11 after Trump announced a 90-day 'pause' to his reciprocal tariff plan, providing much-needed relief to investors. Sensex rallied over 1,300 points to hover around 75,158. It is still, however, significantly lower than the pre-reciprocal tariff imposition level of 76,617. Nifty, meanwhile, is up nearly 2 percent to stand at 22,821.

Also read: These are the top gaining spaces as investors cheer Trump's tariff pause

The benchmark indices are, however, down nearly 3.5 percent in April so far.

US stock markets were majorly impacted by the uncertainties around Trump's reciprocal tariffs. After the initial April 2 announcement and the threats of counter measures, the Wall Street indices crumbled as investors remained worried over a possible US recession. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index crashed over 13 percent since April 2 to hit a record low on April 8. S&P 500 and Dow Jones indices also recorded similar losses.

However, the stock markets took a sigh of relief after Trump announced the 90-day tariff pause on April 9. But, the rising trade war with China with Trump continuing to increase tariffs on Chinese imports still puts pressure on the Wall Street. Dow Jones and S&P 500 indices have so far tumbled nearly 6 percent each in April so far.

China's Hang Seng index saw the worst fall among the major global benchmarks. The Chinese stock market index has so far tumbled over 9 percent in April so far. The Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 meanwhile tumbled over 4 percent during the period.

Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's KOSPI index bucked the trend to record marginal losses in April so far. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite however dropped nearly 5 percent, while Taiwan's TAIEX index fell nearly 4 percent.

European stock markets have also seen strong volatility amid the global uncertainties. Overall, the benchmark indices have recorded significant losses in April so far. UK's FTSE100 strongly declined by nearly 7 percent, while France's CAC dropped nearly 4 percent during the period. Germany's DAX meanwhile declined nearly 3 percent and Brazil's Ibovespa index crashed nearly 6 percent.