Indian equity indices opened the Tuesday trading session on a flat note with a negative bias, following the US’s imposition of a 25% tariff on Japan and South Korea, which led to a weak sentiment in Asian markets. Investors in the domestic markets are awaiting the announcement on the US-India trade deal. The NSE Nifty 50 opened near 25,400, while the BSE Sensex fell to 83,300.
In line with the overall markets, Bank Nifty was flat below 57,000. Similarly, the small and midcap traded cautiously; the Nifty Midcap 100 opened 0.12% lower at 59,444.
“The announcement of unilateral tariffs on 14 countries and the exclusion of India from the list, along with President Trump’s remark that “we are close to a deal with India”, indicate that a trade deal between India and the US will be announced soon. This has already been largely discounted by the market; the unknown areas are the details of possible sectoral tariffs on segments like pharmaceuticals. Market reaction will depend on these details,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments.
Let’s take a look at the key factors to watch out for today’s trading session
Early gainers and laggards
In early trade, among the Nifty 50 top gainers at this hour were Kotak Mahindra Bank, Zomato, Bharat Electronics, and NTPC, among other stocks. On the flip side, the key laggards in the Nifty 50 pack included Kotak Bank, Zomato, BEL, NTPC, and Tata Motors.
Major movers on Tuesday
The stocks that remained under pressure included Titan, Dr Reddy’s Lab, Cipla, Mahindra & Mahindra, and HCL Technologies, which were the major movers in the morning trade.
Likely India-US trade deal
The US President Donald Trump has announced a new wave of 25% tariffs on imports from Japan and South Korea, set to take effect from August 1, 2025. In letters shared publicly on Truth Social, Trump stated that trade ties with both nations were “far from reciprocal” and cited ongoing trade deficits as justification. Similar letters were later shared with other countries, including Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, South Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan.