India’s stock market was subdued at the open today, with a drop in IT stocks and concerns over US tariffs offsetting positive business updates that reinforced expectations of better quarterly earnings.
At the opening bell, the Nifty 50 rose as much as 0.11% to a record high of 26,358.25, before reversing gains. The 30-share Sensex traded 0.17% lower. Twelve of the 16 major sectors advanced at the open. The broader smallcaps and midcaps rose 0.5% and 0.1%, respectively.
Nifty Bank rose 1.3%, led by state-run lenders Punjab National Bank and Bank of Baroda—up 2% each after quarterly updates. Indian IT firms, which earn a significant share of their revenue from the US, fell 1%.
Asian stocks climbed and oil prices were choppy as investors considered the implications of US military action in Venezuela.
US President Donald Trump said that tariffs on India could be raised if the country did not help on the Russian oil issue, intensifying tariff concerns. The US has already imposed a 50% tariff on India, with half of that brought in as a punitive measure for New Delhi’s Russian crude imports.
