The key equity indices ended with minor losses on Tuesday, as market sentiment was dampened by US President Donald Trump’s decision to implement tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting today, along with Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on US goods. Media, PSU Bank and oil & gas shares advanced while auto, IT, and FMCG shares declined. The Nifty settled below the 22,100 level.
As per provisional closing, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 96.01 points or 0.13% to 72,989.93. The Nifty 50 index shed 36.65 points or 0.17% to 22,082.65.
The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.08%, and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.28%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,217 shares rose and 1,740 shares fell. A total of 129 shares were unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 0.49% to 13.83.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Auto index fell 1.31% to 20,269.20. The index rose 0.19% in the past trading session.
Bajaj Auto (down 4.95%), Hero MotoCorp (down 3.19%), MRF (down 2.39%), Apollo Tyres (down 2.22%), Balkrishna Industries (down 2.15%), Eicher Motors (down 1.86%), Bosch (down 1.62%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 1.35%), TVS Motor Company (down 1.29%) and Samvardhana Motherson International (down 0.95%) declined.
Stocks in Spotlight:
DCM Shriram surged 7.62% after the company’s board decided to evaluate the options for restructuring or reorganizing its businesses to leverage the strengths of each segment.
Krystal Integrated Services jumped 4.16% after the company announced the receipt of contracts for security and facility management services at three international airports in India.
Azad Engineering added 3.13% after the company raised Rs 700 crore via qualified institutional placement (QIP) by issuing 54.68 lakh shares at Rs 1,280 each, marking a 1.77% discount to the floor price of Rs 1,303.08.
JSW Energy added 1.59% after the company said that it has added 159 MW of greenfield wind power capacity in the current quarter, resulting in total operational capacity of 8,400 MW.
RateGain Travel Technologies rose 1.08% after the company announced a significant partnership with Mews, a leading provider of hospitality cloud solutions and Property Management Systems (PMS).
Solar Industries India rose 0.85%. The company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Solar Defence and Aerospace, has signed a contract worth Rs 239 crore with the Ministry of Defence, Government of India, for the supply of multi-mode handgrenade.
Suzlon Energy rose 0.58%. The company announced that it has secured a third order of 204.75 MW from Jindal Green Wind 1, a subsidiary of Jindal Renewables.
B.R. Goyal Infrastructure jumped 6.86% after the company has received a Rs 30.71 crore work order from Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation for the construction of a White Topping Road and other works from Mahila College Circle to Bhavnagar Airport, Gujarat.
Global Markets:
European markets tumbled on Tuesday as global investors brace for the global impact of fresh U.S. tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, along with retaliatory action.
The prospect of tariffs has rattled investors amid concerns that they will reignite inflation in the U.S. and escalate a global trade war.
Most Asian stocks ended lower after U.S. President Donald Trump made it clear that tariffs on Mexico and Canada would go into effect as planned.
Japan's unemployment rate for January edged up to 2.5%, compared to 2.4% in the previous month, according to government data released on Tuesday.
South Korea's retail sales in January declined by 0.6% compared to the previous month. Revised estimates show a 0.2% increase in December. The S&P Global purchasing managers’ index for South Korea fell to 49.9 in February from 50.3 the month before. This marks the fourth time in the last six months that the index has fallen below 50, which separates expansion from contraction.
Investors will be keeping a watch on Chinese stocks ahead of the country’s annual parliamentary gathering, known as the “Two Sessions,” which will kick off later in the day.
Australia's retail sales for January rose 0.3%, in line with expectations, after a 0.1% decline in December.
Overnight in the U.S., all three major indexes fell as Trump reiterated that 25% levies on imports from Mexico and Canada would go into effect Tuesday stateside.
The S&P 500 fell 1.76% to end the day at 5,849.72, marking this the benchmark’s worst day since December. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 649.67 points, or 1.48%, to finish at 43,191.24. The Nasdaq Composite slid 2.64% to close at 18,350.19, weighed down by Nvidia’s decline of more than 8%.
On the economic front, New York Federal Reserve President John Williams is slated to speak Tuesday afternoon in New York.