Market traded lower after RBI lowers GDP forecast, tariff jitters grow

The Indian equity benchmarks saw sustained selling on Wednesday, with Nifty and Sensex falling sharply amid sector-wide declines and weakened sentiment following the RBI’s lowered GDP outlook for FY26, even as the central bank slashed the repo rate by 25 basis points.At close, the Sensex was down 379.93 points or 0.51 percent at 73,847.15, and the Nifty was down 136.70 points or 0.61 percent at 22,399.15. About 1500 shares advanced, 2241 shares declined, and 138 shares unchanged.
The Reserve Bank of India lowered its GDP growth estimates for FY26 to 6.5 percent, down from 6.7 percent earlier. Further, the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee reduced the key lending rate by 25 basis points, taking a unanimous decision. Further, the central bank shifted its stance to 'accommodative'. RBI lowers FY26 inflation projection to 4 percent from 4.2 percent projected earlier.
Nestle, HUL, Tata Consumer Products, Titan Company and Power Grid Corp were the top gainers on the Nifty while losers included Wipro, SBI, L&T, Trent and Tech Mahindra.
On the sectoral front,except Consumer Durables (up 0.3 percent) and FMCG (Up 1.5 percent), all other sectoral indices ended in the red with Realty, IT and PSU Bank down 2 percent each.BSE Midcap index was down 0.8 percent and Smallcap index was down 1 percent.
Rupee Close:
On 09 April'25,the Indian rupee declined to a three-week low on Wednesday,ended 45 paise lower at 86.69 against the US dollar, tracking the weakness in the Chinese yuan as sweeping U.S. tariffs came into effect, including a 104% levy on China, and fuelled worries of a slowdown in global growth.
Expert's Outlook:
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments reportedly quoted as saying, Global financial markets are witnessing renewed selling pressure following the enactment of reciprocal tariffs. A 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.
In India, a cut in the repo rate, along with the adaptation of an accommodative policy stance, is taken as a constructive step. However, it has done little to uplift overall market sentiment, as the world is embracing recessionary risk.The IT sector continues to lag ahead of Q4 results, which are estimated to be weak. Pharma remains cautious over potential headwinds arising from the imposition of U.S. tariffs on the industry. On a positive note, domestic focus sectors like FMCG are trading better due to lack of recessionary risk from global slowdown.

(Business Correspondent)