The key domestic indices traded with limited losses in the afternoon trade as market sentiment was weighed down by US President Donald Trump’s decision to implement tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting today, along with Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on US goods. The Nifty tad below the 22,050 level.
Media, PSU Bank, and Bank shares advanced while auto, IT, and FMCG shares declined.
At 13:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 176.30 points or 0.24% to 72,909.64. The Nifty 50 index shed 69.80 points or 0.32% to 22,049.50.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.25%, and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.76%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,113 shares rose and 1,714 shares fell. A total of 163 shares were unchanged.
Gainers & Losers:
State Bank of India (up 2.77%), Bharat Electronics (up 2.55%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 1.43%), Shriram Finance (up 0.90%), and Tata Consultancy Services (up 0.85%) were the major Nifty gainers.
Bajaj Auto (down 4.20%), Hero Motocorp (down 3.31%), Bajaj Finserv (down 2.52%), Nestle India (down 2.20%), and HCL Technologies (down 2.18%) were the major Nifty losers.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Krystal Integrated Services jumped 4.37% after the company announced the receipt of contracts for security and facility management services at three international airports in India.
Azad Engineering added 2.18% after the company raised Rs 700 crore via qualified institutional placement (QIP) by issuing 54.68 lakh shares at Rs 1,280 each, marking a 1.77% discount to the floor price of Rs 1,303.08.
JSW Energy shed 0.36%. The company said that it has added 159 MW of greenfield wind power capacity in the current quarter, resulting in total operational capacity of 8,400 MW.
RateGain Travel Technologies shed 0.44%. The company announced a significant partnership with Mews, a leading provider of hospitality cloud solutions and Property Management Systems (PMS).
Solar Industries India rose 0.98%. The company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Solar Defence and Aerospace, has signed a contract worth Rs 239 crore with the Ministry of Defence, Government of India, for the supply of multi-mode handgrenade.
Global Markets:
European markets slipped on Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump’s 25% import tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods, and additional tariffs on China, are expected to go into effect later in the day.
The prospect of tariffs has rattled investors amid concerns that they will reignite inflation in the U.S. and escalate a global trade war.
Most Asian stocks tumbled after China announced that it would impose additional tariffs of up to 15% on some U.S. goods starting March 10 and restrict exports to 15 U.S. companies. These retaliatory measures, from China’s Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Commerce, came just as new U.S. tariffs took effect on Chinese goods.
Japanese stocks fell nearly 2% to lead declines in Asia-Pacific markets after U.S. President Donald Trump made it clear that tariffs on Mexico and Canada would go into effect as planned.
Japan's unemployment rate for January edged up to 2.5%, compared to 2.4% in the previous month, according to government data released on Tuesday.
South Korea's retail sales in January declined by 0.6% compared to the previous month. Revised estimates show a 0.2% increase in December. The S&P Global purchasing managers’ index for South Korea fell to 49.9 in February from 50.3 the month before. This marks the fourth time in the last six months that the index has fallen below 50, which separates expansion from contraction.
Investors will be keeping a watch on Chinese stocks ahead of the country’s annual parliamentary gathering, known as the “Two Sessions,” which will kick off later in the day.
Australia's retail sales for January rose 0.3%, in line with expectations, after a 0.1% decline in December.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes fell as Trump reiterated that 25% levies on imports from Mexico and Canada would go into effect Tuesday stateside.
The S&P 500 fell 1.76% to end the day at 5,849.72, marking this the benchmark’s worst day since December. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 649.67 points, or 1.48%, to finish at 43,191.24. The Nasdaq Composite slid 2.64% to close at 18,350.19, weighed down by Nvidia’s decline of more than 8%.
On the economic front, New York Federal Reserve President John Williams is slated to speak Tuesday afternoon in New York.