Sensex falls over 200 pts, Nifty below 24,700 as Trump revives tariff threat over Russian oil imports
Sensex
and
Nifty
, opened marginally lower on Tuesday, as investor sentiment turned cautious following renewed tariff threats from U.S. President Donald
Trump
over the country's continued imports of Russian oil.
The BSE Sensex slipped 213 points, or 0.26%, to 80,806, while the NSE Nifty declined 37 points, or 0.15%, to 24,685.
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The decline followed remarks from Trump late Monday, in which he vowed to impose "harsh tariffs" on Indian goods if re-elected, citing New Delhi's purchases of discounted Russian crude. India's government dismissed the criticism as 'unjustified' and pledged to defend its economic interests, signalling an escalation in trade tensions between the two countries.
Foreign portfolio investors have extended their selling streak to 11 consecutive sessions through Monday, according to provisional exchange data. The persistent outflows come ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's policy decision due Wednesday, where the central bank is widely expected to hold rates steady.
On the 30-stock Sensex pack, shares of Infosys, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, BEL, Hindustan Unilever and HDFC Bank led the laggards, slipping between 0.4% and 1%.
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The Oil & Gas sector slipped 0.4% in early trade, dragged lower by a more than 2% decline in Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL), which led sectoral losses.
Meanwhile, the IT and FMCG sectoral indices were also trading 0.3% lower.
In contrast, the broader Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 0.4%, defying the downtrend, while the Nifty Midcap 100 index traded largely unchanged.
Expert Views
The latest tweet from President Trump that he will 'substantially raise U.S. tariffs on India' for buying Russian oil is a serious threat,' said Dr VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, adding that "If he walks his talk, the India-U.S. relations will further strain and the impact on India's exports to the US can be worse than thought earlier. India's GDP growth and corporate earnings in FY26 also will be impacted."
Vijayakumar noted that equity valuations remain elevated and do not appear to have priced in such a scenario. 'India's response, with facts, that 'targeting India is unjustified and unreasonable' sends a message that India will not be making undue concessions and compromises. This means, the market is in uncharted territory in the near-term.'
A sharper escalation, Vijayakumar added, could push the Nifty below the key support level of 24,500. 'Investors may wait and watch for the developments to unfold. Moving some money to fixed income also can be thought of,' he said.
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First Post
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