Benchmark stock market indices continued their downward momentum and opened lower dragged by a decline in FMCG, banking and auto sector stocks in early trade.The S&P BSE Sensex lost 233.22 points to 75,705.96, while the NSE Nifty50 was down by 75.05 points to 22,857.85 as of 9:38 AM. Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said that Trump’s tariff talks continue to impact markets.”Trump’s declaration yesterday that the US will impose 25% tariffs on automobiles, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals impacted India’s pharma stocks since India’s leading pharma companies are major exporters to the US,” he added.Shriram Finance led the gainers, rising 1.14%, while Hindalco Industries advanced 0.83%. Infosys gained 0.74%, followed by Cipla adding 0.68%. SBI Life Insurance Company rounded off the gainers with a 0.53% increase.Mahindra & Mahindra led the declines, falling 2.06%, while HDFC Bank dropped 1.57%. Maruti Suzuki India declined 1.41%, ITC slipped 1.13%, and Adani Enterprises shed 0.77%.”A positive news is the RBI indicating a growth recovery in H2 FY25. This bodes well for growth and earnings recovery in FY26. Market will start responding positively to the high frequency data indicating growth recovery. Beaten down midcaps like defence stocks are witnessing some buying,” said Vijayakumar.
