Indian Shares Fall on Renewed US Tariff Uncertainty; AI Fears Drag It Lower
The Nifty 50 fell 0.82% to 25,500 and the BSE Sensex shed 0.92% to 82,529.19 as of 9:53 a.m. IST
Indian shares declined on Tuesday, as risk sentiment soured on renewed uncertainty around U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policy, while IT stocks declined on persistent fears of AI-driven disruption.
The Nifty 50 fell 0.82% to 25,500 and the BSE Sensex shed 0.92% to 82,529.19 as of 9:53 a.m. IST.
Market breadth was skewed in favour of bears with 2,005 stocks in the NSE universe declining, while 726 stocks advanced. About 73 stocks traded flat.
Eleven of the 16 major sectors logged losses at the open. The IT index fell 3.5%, extending losses to the fifth straight session.
"We now expect 14%-16% gross deflationary risk from AI over the next few years to the overall (IT) sector revenues," said analysts led by Yogesh Aggarwal of HSBC Global Investment Research.
The broader small-caps and mid-caps lost about 0.5% each.
Other Asian markets were largely muted, while Wall Street slid overnight after Trump warned countries against abandoning newly negotiated trade deals in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision striking down the emergency tariffs, saying he could impose much higher duties under other trade laws.
"Market sentiment is hurt due to Trump's tariff threats and persistent fears around AI-linked disruptions," said SMC Global Securities, adding, "Heightened Middle East tensions pushed oil prices to a seven-month high, also weighing on markets."
Meanwhile, India delayed the planned trade talks with U.S. while China pressed Washington to roll back tariff measures and the EU put its approval process on ice.
A rise in oil prices is a negative for net importers of the commodity, such as India.
Bucking the broader trend, Pace Digitek rose 2% on 1.59 billion-rupee ($17.5 million) order win.
Morepen Laboratories gained 5.7% after securing an order worth 8.25 billion rupees, expanding into high-growth contract development and manufacturing organisation segment.
One Mobikwik climbed 5.1% after receiving BSE's approval to launch a stock broking business.