Sensex, Nifty End With Minor Losses

Indian shares fell modestly on Thursday amid tariff concerns and uncertain outlooks for both global trade and inflation.

It is feared that U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff plans would stoke inflation and a global trade war.

Trump said on Tuesday he intends to impose 25 percent tariffs on autos, pharmaceuticals, and chips, aiming to boost U.S. manufacturing and competitiveness.

Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions have escalated after Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator” and warned of losing his country if peace wasn’t secured swiftly – heightening concerns among U.S. allies in Europe.

Trump also said he believes Russia “have the cards” in any peace talks to end the war in Ukraine because they have “taken a lot of territory”.

The benchmark S&P/BSE Sensex ended the session down 203.22 points, or 0.27 percent, at 75,735.96, mirroring weakness elsewhere across Asia. The downside remained capped due to a weaker dollar and lower Treasury yields.

The broader NSE Nifty index slid 19.75 points, or 0.09 percent, to 22,913.15, with banks and healthcare stocks leading losses.

The broader BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes rallied 1.2 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

The market breadth was positive, with 2,675 shares rising on the BSE while 1,266 shares declined, and 112 shares ended unchanged.

HCL Technologies, Tata Consumer Products, Tech Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki India and HDFC Bank fell 1-2 percent in the Nifty pack while Adani Ports, BEL, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC and Shriram Finance jumped 3-4 percent.