US Reciprocal Tariffs Slumps Indian Equity Markets; Sensex Down 300 Points, Nifty Inches Close to 23,200
As of 9:57 am, Sensex was down by 0.46% or 355.38 points, to 76,262.06, while Nifty fell by 0.41% or 95.15 points, to 23,237.20.
US Reciprocal Tariffs Slumps Indian Equity Markets; Sensex Down 300 Points, Nifty Inches Close to 23,200
Indian equity markets tumbled on April 3 after US President Donald Trump announced to levy his long-awaited reciprocal tariffs on various nations. The move is set to dampen the global economy and may also result in retaliation from other countries.
Trump imposed a tariff of 26% on Indian imports, which is lower than key Asian peers, including 36% on Thailand and 32% on Indonesia.
As of 9:57 am, Sensex was down by 0.46% or 355.38 points, to 76,262.06, while Nifty fell by 0.41% or 95.15 points, to 23,237.20.
In the Asian market, Hong Kong Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite slumped by 1.75% and 0.51% respectively. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei went down by 3.14%.
“April, 2 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again. The tariffs Trump unveiled were worse than what the market had established as a worst case scenario,” said Vikram Kasat, head – advisory, PL Capital – Prabhudas Lilladher
On the other hand, the tariffs levied on India were higher than Japan (24%), South Korea (25%), Malaysia (24%), European Union (20%) and UK (10%).
Trump said that he was charging only half of the tariffs the other countries have imposed on the US.
From April 5, US will impose 10% base tariff on all countries and an individualsied higher reciprocal tariffs on countries with which the US has the largest trade deficits from April 9.
“In very general terms, Canada and Mexico have got off lightly, while those in Asia, particularly China and Vietnam, have been hit hard. The European Union and Japan sit somewhere in the middle. Just the hope – no one retaliates Since If you retaliate, there will be escalation. If you don’t retaliate, this is the high-water mark,” said Kasat.
India exports goods worth $80 billion to the US, of which major contributors are machinery, apparels, pharma, agriculture, electronics and gems & jewelry, said Ankita Pathak, macro strategist and global equities fund advisor at Ionic Asset.
“The prospect of a radical escalation in the global trade war in the coming days has nearly doubled the probability of a recession in the US economy in the next 12 months,” said Devarsh Vakil, head of prime research, HDFC Securities.
