Indian markets fall sharply amid trade tensions

Indian markets experienced a sharp decline on Wednesday, mirroring global trends. Escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China overshadowed recent measures by the Reserve Bank of India to support the economy. The Nifty closed at 22,400, down 136.70 points or 0.61 percent, while the Sensex fell 379.93 points or 0.51 percent to 73,847.15. The decline in Indian equities came as China announced it would impose 84% tariffs on U.S. goods from Thursday, up from the 34% previously announced. This latest move, part of an ongoing trade war initiated by U.S. President Donald Trump, dampened investor sentiment worldwide.

#NewsAlert | SEBI: Committee to suggest stricter rules for SEBI members & officials on investments, liabilities pic.twitter.com/PrrjNARt4h

— ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) April 9, 2025

Sector-wise, IT and pharmaceutical stocks were among the hardest hit, with the IT sector declining by 2.3 percent due to its significant exposure to the U.S. market.

Markets decline amid trade tensions

Realty, PSU Bank, and IT sectors were particularly hard hit, down 2 percent each. Only Consumer Durables and FMCG ended in the green, rising by 0.3 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

Why Nithin Kamath is recommending investors to 'take break from trading'? 'By staying out of markets…'https://t.co/nN9Z15bBXN

— ET NOW (@ETNOWlive) April 9, 2025

Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities, noted that volatility is likely to be the order of the day over the next few weeks, with a negative bias as the uncertainty caused by the U.S. decision to impose differential import tariffs has pushed investors to reduce equity bets.

S&P 500 futures down nearly 2% … this will change before tomorrow’s open, perhaps a lot given the times in which we’re living right now … sigh pic.twitter.com/dFuuoUAxuh

— Liz Ann Sonders (@LizAnnSonders) April 9, 2025

Ajit Mishra, SVP (Research), Religare Broking, pointed out that the MPC meeting’s decision—a 25-bps rate cut and an accommodative stance—failed to evoke any meaningful market reaction. Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, mentioned that the trade war is escalating global risk, with a rise in U.S. bond yields prompting a sell-off in the world’s safe treasury assets. The rupee also ended 45 paise lower at 86.69 per dollar on Wednesday versus the previous close of 86.24. Image Credits: Photo by AS Photography on Pexels