Sensex sheds 288 pts, Nifty below 25,500 as financials drag despite U.S.-India trade deal hopes
Sensex
and
Nifty
ended lower on Wednesday, as a pullback in
financial stocks
from near-record highs outweighed optimism fueled by U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks hinting at a potential trade deal between the U.S. and India.
The BSE Sensex declined 287.60 points, or 0.34%, to close at 83,409.69, while the NSE Nifty shed 88.40 points, or 0.35%, to settle at 25,453.40.
Among the 30 stocks on the Sensex,
Bajaj Finance
, L&T,
HDFC Bank
,
Bharat Electronics Ltd
, and
Kotak Mahindra Bank
were the top laggards, falling between 0.9% and 2.1%.
Financial services stocks were the biggest drag on the benchmarks, with the Nifty Financial Services index slipping 1% on the day. Index heavyweight HDFC Bank lost 1.3%, weighing heavily on sentiment.
In contrast, metal stocks rallied sharply, with the Nifty Metal index rising 1.4%, buoyed by a global rebound in steel futures amid signs of recovery in China's manufacturing sector and stronger demand from Western economies.
Tata Steel
led the charge, jumping 3.7%, followed by a 3% gain in
Welspun Corp
.
NALCO
rose 1.1%,
Hindalco
added 0.6%, and
Vedanta
advanced 0.8%.
Broader markets also ended in the red, with the Nifty Smallcap 100 down 0.4% and the Nifty Midcap 100 lower by 0.1%.
On the geopolitical front, U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a trade deal with India could soon be reached, potentially allowing the country to sidestep the 26% retaliatory tariff he announced on April 2, which has been suspended until July 9. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent echoed the sentiment, saying both sides are close to finalising an agreement that would avert the tariff hike.
Meanwhile,
HDB Financial Services
made its debut on the National Stock Exchange at Rs 835 per share, listing at a 12.8% premium over its issue price of Rs 740.
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