Sensex, Nifty decline on concerns over US tariff imposition

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower on Thursday after US President Donald Trump announced the imposition of a 25 per cent tariff on all goods coming from India starting August 1 and an unspecified penalty for buying Russian crude oil and military equipment. Halting its two-day rally, the 30-share BSE index declined 296.28 points, or 0.36 per cent, to settle at 81,185.58 after recovering some lost ground during the afternoon trade. During the morning session, the gauge tanked 786.71 points, or 0.96 per cent, to 80,695.15. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 86.70 points or 0.35 per cent to 24,768.35. The announcement is being seen as a pressure tactic to get New Delhi to agree to demands made by the US, which has, in recent days, got favourable trade deals with major partners like Japan, the UK and the European Union. The penalty was announced as India has made large purchases of oil and military equipment from Russia. India is the first country to face a penalty for Russian imports.

From the Sensex firms, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries, Adani Ports, NTPC and Asian Paints were among the biggest laggards. However, FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) jumped 3.48 per cent after the firm reported a 5.97 per cent rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 2,768 crore for the June quarter of FY26, helped by gains from a re-estimation of taxes paid in the previous year. Eternal, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Power Grid were also among the gainers. In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled lower, while Japan's Nikkei 225 index ended in positive territory. European markets were trading on a mixed note in mid-session trade. The US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.74 per cent to USD 72.70 a barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 850.04 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. In the previous session, the Sensex climbed 143.91 points or 0.18 per cent to settle at 81,481.86. The Nifty rose 33.95 points or 0.14 per cent to 24,855.05.