Domestic equities in India were muted on Monday morning trade, with benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex declining. Telecom and manufacturing stocks exhibited weak trends echoing global sentiments, and the outflow of foreign funds continued.
Sensex shed at least 343 points, inching down 0.45 per cent. Nifty lost almost 109 points, falling by 0.47 per cent. Last Friday, foreign investors offloaded Rs 2,758.49 crore worth of equities, according to the exchanges.
Zomato led the losers in the Sensex, with HCL Tech, PowerGrid, Tata Motors, Adani Ports, Reliance Industries, IndusInd bank, Infosys, TCS, and HDFC Bank adding to the list of laggards.
Geojit Financial Services’ V K Vijayakumar said the market was looking forward to income tax cuts in the budget. “If the expectations are met, there can be a relief rally in the market. But if a rally is to sustain, we need data indicating growth and earnings revival,” he added.
In contrast, other Asian markets, such as Shanghai and Hong Kong, rallied. Tokyo markets, however, fell.
The rupee fell 22 paise to hit 86.44 vs the US dollar on Monday morning on weaker equities and the American currency gaining across the globe.
Moving away from the stable trend last week that ended with the rupee gaining on Friday, the Indian currency opened weaker this week on the uncertainty around impending Trump tariffs.
The dollar index, which assesses the USD against six major currencies, stood 0.21 per cent higher at 107.67 after US President Donald Trump threatened Colombia with 25 per cent tariffs. This was at the heels of Colombia returning a plane of migrants sent by the US.
Later, the South American country agreed to Trump’s terms, and the US paused sanctions and tariffs, including accepting flights carrying deportees.
White House Press Secretary Karolina Leavitte said that Colombia agreed to “all of President Trump’s terms, including the unrestricted acceptance of all illegal aliens from Colombia returned from the United States, including on US military aircraft, without limitation or delay”.
