Indian stock markets fell on Friday as investors worried about upcoming U.S. tariffs. The NSE Nifty 50 dropped 0.17% to 23,553.8, while the BSE Sensex fell 0.20% to 77,451 by 10:06 a.m. IST.
The fall was mainly due to losses in IT and auto stocks, following weak trends in Asian markets. This happened after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 25% tax on auto imports, set to begin next week. Analysts believe investors will stay cautious as they try to understand the impact of these tariffs.
“The market will stay slow in the next few days due to uncertainty around U.S. tariffs. This will affect investor decisions in the short term,” said Sameet Chavan, head of research at Angel One.
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Auto stocks dropped 0.8%, extending their two-day loss to 2%. Pharma stocks also declined by 0.9%, as the U.S. is a major buyer of Indian medicines, making up about one-third of exports.
IT stocks, which earn a large part of their revenue from the U.S., also faced selling pressure. The Nifty IT index fell 1.3%, with Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys losing 1.1% and 1.7%, respectively. Investors are also waiting for a key U.S. inflation report expected later today.
On a positive note, BSE Ltd. jumped 12% after SEBI changed the derivatives expiry schedule. Experts believe this change could help BSE regain market share.
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Despite the overall market weakness, small-cap and mid-cap stocks showed some strength, gaining 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively.
