Indian equity indices opened Wednesday’s trading session on a muted note ahead of the RBI MPC. The NSE Nifty 50 opened flat at 24,645. The BSE Sensex opened 40 points higher at 80,750.
Similarly, Bank Nifty opened flat at 55,363. In line with the benchmarks, the small and midcap stocks were trading muted. The Nifty Midcap rose 98 points to 57,305.
“All eyes now shift to the RBI’s MPC meet today at 10 AM, where the Street will be watching for cues on repo rate, inflation, and growth amidst this tariff turbulence. With repo at 5.5%, CRR at 4%, WPI and CPI inflation at multi-year lows, and GDP sluggish at 6.5%, the market is split on whether Governor Sanjay Malhotra will cut rates or hold after June’s 50 bps cut—we suspect a pause,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior Vice President of Research at Mehta Equities.
“Technically, after the morning sell-off, the market witnessed limited activity throughout the day. We believe the market is currently exhibiting directionless activity, and traders are likely waiting for a move in either direction,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research at Kotak Securities.
Three big negatives cloud Wednesday’s market mood: President Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on chip and pharma imports is likely to keep pharma stocks under pressure. Second, Trump’s fresh salvo, indicating a steep tariff hike within 24 hours and calling India an unfavourable trade partner, adds to the gloom. Third, Wall Street’s weakness after the ISM Services PMI showed a surprise slowdown, rising price pressures, and further job losses, added Tapse.
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 Adani Ports and SEZ, Bharti Airtel, Bharat Electricals, Shriram Finance, and Adani Enterprises. On the flip side, the key laggards in the Nifty 50 pack included Dr Reddy’s Lab, Sun Pharma, Cipla, Wipro, and Zomato (Eternal).
Major movers on Wednesday
The stocks that remained under pressure included Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports, Bharat Electronics, ICICI Bank, and Larsen & Toubro, which were the major movers in the morning trade.
Trump flags new tariffs on chips and pharma
U.S. President Donald Trump, in a CNBC “Squawk Box” interview, said his administration plans to announce fresh tariffs on semiconductors “within the next week or so.” Stressing the need to bring chip manufacturing back to the U.S., Trump added, “We want them made in the United States.” He also hinted at a massive push on pharmaceutical imports, saying tariffs could go as high as 250%.
Further, Trump also said that he is reviewing four potential names for the Federal Reserve chair role, but ruled out Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent from the race. “Well, I love Scott, but he wants to stay where he is,” Trump said.