Indian equity markets opened lower on Monday as investors grew jittery ahead of the July 9 deadline for the United States to reinstate punitive tariffs, casting a shadow over trade talks and dragging benchmark indices into negative territory.
The BSE Sensex slipped 170.66 points to 83,262.23 in early trade, while the NSE Nifty dropped 53.75 points to 25,407.25, pressured by weak cues from Asian peers and sustained foreign fund withdrawals.
The slide followed a period of volatility fuelled by fears that Washington might reimpose an additional 26 per cent import duty on Indian goods once the 90-day suspension of the Trump-era tariffs expires. The absence of clarity on a prospective interim trade deal between the two nations has added to market nervousness.
“Concerns surrounding a US-India trade deal and the fallout of Sebi's report on Jane Street will be influencing market movement today (Monday). There are reports of a possible interim trade deal between US and India before the July 9th tariff deadline. If that happens, that would be a positive,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
Also read: US-India trade talks, TCS earnings to drive stock markets
Selling pressure was evident across several index heavyweights. Bharat Electronics Ltd, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Eternal, ICICI Bank, and Sun Pharma were among the top laggards on the Sensex. On the other hand, Trent, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finserv, and HDFC Bank posted gains.
Investor sentiment was further dampened by weak trading across Asian bourses. Japan’s Nikkei 225, Shanghai’s SSE Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng all moved lower, although South Korea’s Kospi bucked the trend. Wall Street, however, had closed in positive territory on Friday.
Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, remarked: “The looming July 9 tariff deadline could drive volatility.”
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) pulled out ₹760.11 crore from Indian equities on Friday, according to provisional exchange data, underscoring the caution in the lead-up to the trade deadline.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, also edged lower by 0.63 per cent to USD 67.87 a barrel, reflecting soft global demand signals.
On Friday, the Sensex had closed 193.42 points higher at 83,432.89, while the Nifty rose by 55.70 points to settle at 25,461. However, Monday’s retreat reflects broader investor uncertainty fuelled by geopolitics and international trade tensions.
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