Business News

Mumbai: India's equity indices weakened on Thursday in response to the reciprocal tariffs by the US, but losses were limited as investors judged that the impact of the move on the economy would be mixed. Auto and IT shares were the laggards, while power, pharma and consumption stocks remained steady. NSE's Nifty fell 82.25 points, or 0.35%, to close at 23,250.1. BSE's Sensex declined 322.08 points, or 0.4%, to end at 76,295.36. Both had fallen as much as almost 1% earlier in the day. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan tumbled 2.8%, China declined 0.2%, Hong Kong fell 1.5%, South Korea declined 0.8%, and Taiwan rose 0.1%. The pan-Europe index Stoxx 600 was down 2.3% at the time of going to print. Foreign portfolio investors extended their selling streak for the third straight day, offloading shares worth ₹2,806 crore on Thursday. Domestic institutions were buyers worth ₹221.5 crore.The broader markets remained steadier, with the Nifty Midcap 150 gaining 0.2% and Nifty Small-cap 250 advancing 0.7% on Thursday.Out of the total 4,123 stocks traded on BSE, 2,788 advanced and 1,212 declined at close.The Nifty Volatility Index, or VIX, fell 0.9% to 13.6 levels, indicating some relief among traders in the near term.

Mumbai: Information Technology stocks slumped by as much as 10% on Thursday amid renewed inflation concerns in the US, following President Donald Trump's announcement of long-anticipated reciprocal tariffs.The Nifty IT index tumbled 4.2% - the biggest loser among sector indices. Shares of Persistent Systems plunged 10%, while Coforge dropped nearly 8%. TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Mphasis, LTIMindtree, and HCL Technologies declined between 3% and 4%.As part of a sweeping overhaul of global trade policies, the US has imposed a 26% tariff on Indian goods, replacing a system that had been in place for over 75 years. Although these tariffs do not directly impact the IT sector, they are expected to fuel inflationary pressures in the US and higher inflation could prompt American businesses to scale back spending, including cuts to technology and IT budgets."While Indian IT is not directly impacted by the tariff order, three factors will likely influence IT spending - higher US inflation, US GDP growth cuts, and crimping of corporate profits. This, combined with uncertainty, is negative for client decision-making and could result in a slower start to FY26, making a moderate improvement also challenging," said Ashwin Mehta, Head of Equity Research at Ambit Capital. Indian IT companies account for 50-70% of their revenues from the US.Given that Indian IT firms generate a significant portion of their revenue from US clients, any reduction in tech expenditures could weigh heavily on their growth prospects.Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research, HDFC Securities, does not expect immediate downgrades in IT sector, however, believes that a cautious commentary and potential downgrades can be expected in the coming months. He suggests investors to not make drastic moves as the single-digit growth in IT companies is already factored into their valuations. The brokerage house is maintaining a cautious stance and is underweight on the sector.