Stock market declines sharply amid selling pressure ahead of additional US tariffs

Mumbai, Aug 26 The domestic equity indices ended the session with a sharp decline on Tuesday amid worries over the US imposition of 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods, scheduled to come into effect from Wednesday.

Sensex ended the session at 80,786.54, down 849.37 points or 1.04 per cent. The 30-share index opened in negative territory at 81,377.39 against the last session's closing of 81,635.91. The Index escalated the loss further during the intraday trade amid overall selling, and it touched an intraday low at 80,685.98.

Nifty settled at 24,712.05, down 255.70 points or 1.02 per cent.

"Domestic market sentiment turned cautious as the US penalty tariff deadline expires tomorrow. The persistent depreciation of the Indian currency is adding pressure and may further impact foreign institutional inflows," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited.

Investors are closely monitoring the government's efforts to support economic growth, including proposed GST rate revisions and sector-specific relief measures for industries affected by higher tariffs. Broad-based selling was observed across sectors, except for FMCG, which gained on expectations of increased consumption, he added.

Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, Trent, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj FinServ, Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank, Titan, Mahindra and Mahindra, L&T, Bharati Airtel, NTPC, BEL, ICICI Bank, SBI, HCL Tech, and HDFC Bank settled in negative territory from the Sensex basket. Hindustan Unilever, Maruti Suzuki and ITC were the top gainers.

The majority of sectoral indices traded lower amid selling pressure. Nifty Bank dipped 688.85, down 1.25 per cent, Nifty Fin Services fell 354.30 or 1.35 per cent, Nifty Auto closed 103.10 points down or 0.41 per cent, and Nifty IT closed 216.85 points lower or 0.60 per cent. Nifty FMCG surged 505.35 points or 0.91 per cent.

Broader indices followed suit as well. Nifty Small Cap 100 decreased 362.95 or 2.03 per cent, Nifty Midcap 100 slipped 935.30 points or 1.62 per cent, Nifty 100 dipped 276.20 points or 1.08 per cent, and Nifty Next 50 settled 911 points or 1.35 per cent lower.

The rupee extended its weakness, falling by 0.18 to trade near 87.75, under fresh pressure.

"The US move is expected to weigh on India’s export outlook, limiting any sustained recovery in the currency. While crude prices have softened by around 1.5 per cent in the past session, providing some relief on the import bill side, the negative impact of tariffs overshadowed these gains," said Jateen Trivedi of LKP Securities.

FII outflows and overall dollar demand have further capped the upside. The trading range for the rupee is now seen between 87.25 and 88.25, with risks tilted towards depreciation unless sentiment improves, he added.

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