Indian markets bleed as investors await US Supreme Court ruling on tariffs
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Indian benchmark indices were largely flat on Friday as investors paused after four consecutive sessions of losses, remaining cautious ahead of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the legality of tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump.
The Nifty 50 edged up 0.01% to 25,877, while the Sensex slipped 0.01% to 84,173.50 as of 9:56 a.m. IST.
Nine of the 16 major sectoral indices were trading lower. Small-cap and mid-cap stocks were largely unchanged.
Both the Nifty and Sensex have fallen about 1.7% and 1.8%, respectively, over the past four sessions after Trump hinted at higher tariffs on Indian goods over New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian crude oil. Investors are now awaiting a Supreme Court verdict on whether those tariffs were legally imposed. If ruled illegal, the U.S. government could be required to refund nearly $150 billion to importers.
“Markets are under pressure after Trump approved a bipartisan bill imposing sanctions on Russia, which also allows the U.S. to penalise countries purchasing large volumes of Russian oil and gas through tariffs of up to 500%,” said Vishnu Kant Upadhyay, assistant vice president of research and advisory at Master Capital Services.
Among individual stocks, BHEL rose 2% after securing an order worth 54 billion rupees from joint venture Bharat Coal Gasification & Chemicals. The stock had dropped 10.5% in the previous session following a Reuters report that India’s finance ministry plans to scrap five-year-old restrictions on Chinese firms bidding for government contracts.
Eternal gained 2.2% after Goldman Sachs reiterated its “buy” rating on the online food delivery firm, saying it disagreed with the level of pessimism priced into the stock. Eternal has fallen about 17% over the past three months, underperforming the benchmark indices, which have risen roughly 3% in the same period.
Vodafone Idea advanced 3.3% after the telecom operator announced a dues repayment plan that caps annual payments at $13.79 million for the next six years, easing near-term cash flow concerns.
