IT, auto drag India's benchmarks as tariff worries weigh
Indian benchmark indexes fell on Friday, dragged by IT and auto stocks as uncertainty over U.S. reciprocal tariffs that are to be announced next week made investors cautious.
The NSE Nifty 50 was down 0.17% to 23,553.8, while the BSE Sensex traded 0.20% lower at 77,451 as of 10:06 a.m. IST.
Other Asian markets fell, dragged by auto stocks, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on automotive imports, due to kick in next week. [MKTS/GLOB]
"The market will remain subdued in the next couple of sessions due to uncertainties surrounding the U.S. tariffs, which will influence the immediate trajectory and keep investors cautious," said Sameet Chavan, head of research at Angel One.
Trump is expected to implement retaliatory tariffs on April 2 but the U.S. administration has indicated that not all tariffs will be levied.
Indian auto shares lost 0.8% on the day, taking their two-day decline to 2%.
Pharma stocks fell 0.9%, also weighed down by tariff worries. The U.S. accounts for about one-third of India's total pharmaceutical exports.
Information technology companies, which earn a major share of their revenue from the U.S., lost 1.3% ahead of a key U.S. inflation reading due after Indian market hours.
Eight of the ten Nifty IT constituents declined. Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys fell 1.1% and 1.7%, respectively.
Bucking the trend, exchange operator BSE surged 12% after the country's markets regulator rejigged the derivatives expiry schedule, a move analysts said will help ease concerns over the bourse's market share loss.
The broader, more domestically focussed smallcaps and midcaps gained 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively.
($1 = 85.6830 Indian rupees)
