Indian markets drop as US tariff concerns weigh

The Indian markets declined for the third consecutive session on Thursday, with Nifty closing slightly above 22,900 as selling pressure was witnessed across most sectors except IT and banking. However, buying interest in broader indices helped ease some of the intraday losses.At close, the Sensex was down 203.22 points or 0.27 percent at 75,735.96, and the Nifty was down 19.75 points or 0.09 percent at 22,913.15.
Shriram Finance, NTPC, Adani Ports, M&M, Bharat Electronics were the top gainers on the Nifty, while losers included HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and Tata Consumer. On the sectoral front, auto, metal, oil & gas, media, power, realty, PSU Bank were up 1-2 percent, while bank index was down 0.5 percent. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 1 percent each.
Rupee Close:
On 20 Feb'25,the Indian rupee appreciated 33 paise to close at 86.65 against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, supported by the weakening of the American currency in the overseas market.Forex traders reportedly stated there is a negative bias for the USD/INR pair amid a muted trend in domestic equities and the unabated foreign fund outflow is weighing on investor sentiments.
Trading Guide:
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services reportedly quoted as saying,domestic equity indices experienced minor losses as rising concerns over potential U.S. tariffs on Indian goods led to capital outflows. Additionally, the proposed trade policy is expected to exert inflationary pressures, with the latest Fed Minutes indicating that an interest rate cut may be delayed.
However, the broader market showed an initial recovery, supported by expectations of improving consumption from Q1FY26, driven by moderating domestic inflation and the recent RBI rate cut.
Meanwhile, market experts have recommended five shares to buy- Devyani International, Elecon Engineering Company, Caplin Point Laboratories, Tejas Networks, and Rites.

(Business Correspondent)