Markets trade lower after firm start, fresh foreign fund outflows dent sentiment
Fresh foreign fund outflows also dented investors' sentiment as they preferred staying on the sidelines.
The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 119.05 points to 82,753.53 in opening trade.
The 50-share NSE Nifty went up by 18.7 points to 25,230.75.However, later the BSE benchmark quoted 71.51 points lower at 82,554.47, and the Nifty traded 30.30 points down at 25,182.55.
From the Sensex firms, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Trent, NTPC and Bharat Electronics were among the gainers.
However, Tech Mahindra declined over 1 per cent after its June quarter earnings failed to cheer investors.
IT services firm Tech Mahindra reported a nearly 34 per cent year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,140.
6 crore for the quarter ending June 30, 2025, on the back of growth in communications and financial services verticals.
ICICI Bank, Eternal, State Bank of India and Asian Paints were also among the laggards.
"There are no triggers for the market to break out of the consolidation range in which it has been stuck for two months now.
Even an India-US interim trade deal has been discounted by the market, leaving no scope for a sharp rally decisively breaking the range.
One positive and surprise factor that can trigger a rally is a tariff rate much below 20 per cent, say 15 per cent, which the market has not discounted.
So, watch out for developments on the trade and tariff front," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
Results of the IT sector continue to disappoint and, therefore, this can remain a drag on the overall market, he added.
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Hindustan Times
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Mint
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First Post
4 minutes ago
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With 25% tariff & threat of Russia sanctions, Trump dashes hope of being India's top partner
With 25% tariff and the threat of further penalties over the trade with Russia, President Donald Trump has dashed the hope of many in the country that he would be India's best friend in his second term. The all-round progress in the India-US relationship under the past four years now stands at risk of being undone. read more US President Donald Trump stands, after delivering remarks on tariffs, in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 2, 2025. Reuters With 25 per cent tariff on imports from India amid delay in the much-awaited bilateral trade agreement and the threat of further penalties over Indian imports from Russia, US President Donald Trump has posed a fresh challenge to burgeoning India-US trade ties, effectively creating an environment marked by scepticism and coercion that might undo years of progress in bilateral ties. In a post on Truth Social, Trump on Wednesday announced a two-pronged assault on India. 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Trump shakes foundations of India-US ties Trump's two-pronged assault on India is the starkest display of his irreverence to the principle of mutuality that has been one of the defining features of the India-US relationship. For decades, India respected US concerns and US presidents respected India's red lines. Apparently, that tradition ended on January 20. In his second term, Trump has crossed every red line that India has maintained for decades: he has meddled in the Kashmir dispute, hyphenated India and Pakistan, sided with the jihadists in India's extended neighbourhood, and imposed tariffs and threatened secondary tariffs over the trade with Russia. 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STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD While Biden followed the trend set by Barack Obama, George W Bush, and Bill Clinton before him in taking forward the progress in bilateral ties, Trump has threatened to undo that progress by pulling India into a bumpy ride in the upcoming years — and tariffs are just one of the ways. Some of the blame lies with New Delhi as well. 'There has been a misreading of Trump in New Delhi. He was not the one-stop solution that many thought he would be. There is no easy way to manage him,' says Rao, the geopolitical expert at JISA. What's the road ahead for India-US ties? India cannot replicate templates that other countries have followed to handle Trump. India's approach to international relations and standing in the world neither allows it to appease Trump by offering him military bases, natural resources, or the Nobel Prize or Nishan-e-Haidar like Pakistan nor pursue the 'Daddy' approach of Nato chief Mark Rutte. India will have to figure its own template. 'India has been non-confrontational so far and rightly so. The only way to steer the India-US relationship is to not be confrontational, manage President Trump's ego, smoothen any wrinkles in the relations quietly, and stabilise other theatres like Pakistan and China. India, or any country for that matter, cannot manage many crises at once. India will likely need to come up with a lighter version of Mr Rutte's approach where you don't stoop too low but manage his ego just enough to get your interests secured,' says Rao, a consulting editor at The Print. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD As for the tariffs, Rao says that nothing is certain with President Trump as he can still make a deal and negotiations are ongoing. 'The best-case scenario will be that India gets a trade deal and tariff comes down and India does not get any secondary tariffs or sanctions over the Russian war on Ukraine. The worst-case scenario will be that the 25 per cent tariff continues and India also gets exposed to secondary tariffs or sanctions under the Graham-Blumenthal proposal. In the short term, the focus should be to avoid this,' says Rao.
