MUMBAI: India’s equity market fell for the 10th straight session on Tuesday with the benchmark index - NSE Nifty50 - logging its longest daily losing streak since getting launched nearly three decades ago in 1996. Nifty has now closed lower for 18 out of the last 19 trading sessions.
Global markets, including India, were under pressure on Tuesday after the Trump administration imposed a 25% tariff on all imports in the US coming from Canada and Mexico, and increased tariffs on Chinese goods by an additional 10%, on top of existing duties. Following this, Canada, Mexico and China retailed by increasing tariffs on US goods.
These tariffs would not only impact global trade ecosystems but have the potential to drive inflation in the US. This will force the Federal Reserve to maintain higher interest rates for longer duration which in turn would keep foreign investors away from emerging markets like India.
Foreign institutional investors (FII) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,405.82 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. FIIs pulled out Rs 1.12 lakh crore in the first two months of 2025.
Additionally, sentiment in the D-Street also took a hit after India's manufacturing PMI fell to 56.3 in February, marking a 14-month low and signalling a slowdown in new orders and production momentum.
The Nifty50 ended Tuesday’s session with a decline of 0.17% at 22,082 points. The BSE Sensex failed to hold the 73,000 mark and closed the session at 72,962 points, down 0.13%. The broader market, however, advanced on Tuesday with the Nifty Midcap 100 index settling with a marginal gain of 0.05% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index gaining 0.69%.
The Nifty50 and Sensex index have declined more than 16% each from their September 2024 peak and so far in 2025, the two indices have slumped about 7% each. The selling pressure in the market has been so intense that most sectoral indices, led by realty and media stocks, have plummeted in double-digit figures since the start of 2025.
The market sentiment is expected to remain weak on Wednesday given the US equities extended its downfall on Tuesday over the escalating trade war. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 432 points, or 1%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite lost 0.9 % in the first hour of trading.