Sensex recovers from 600-point dip as Trump tariffs test Indian share markets

In the first trading day after US President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on India came into effect, the Sensex on Thursday fell around 600 points in early trading before recovering. It was still around 240 points down at 80,543 at the time of writing.

Similarly, Nifty 50 also fell 205 points in early trading before recovering. It was still around 56 points down at 24,656 at the time of writing.

The day’s low at Sensex was 80,093 at around 9:30 am and 24,507.20 at Nifty 50 at around 9:30 pm.

At the time of writing, top gainers at the Nifty 50 were Hero Motocorp, Adani Enterpris, Asian Paints, Titan Company, and Adani Ports, and top losers were Shriram Finance, HCL, Sun Pharma, Infosys, and TCS. At Sensex, the top losers were HCL, Infosys, Sun Pharma, TCS, and Tata Motors, and top gainers were Adani Ports, Titan Company, Asian Paints, Eternal, and Larsen.

Official estimates have said that as much as 60 per cent of Indian exports to the tune of $48 billion could be affected by tariffs. Indian exports to the United States contribute around 2 per cent to India’s annual gross domestic product (GDP).

Separately, independent analysts have said that Trump’s tariffs could drag down India’s GDP growth by up to 1 per cent this year.

Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs —25 per cent announced on July 31 and additional 25 per cent slapped on August 6 over India’s purchase of Russian oil— are on the top of pre-existing product-specific tariffs. This means that total tariffs on some of the most labour-intensive and politically sensitive sectors like textiles, garments, and seafood are up to more than 60 per cent.