Indian markets fall ahead of RBI policy, Trump's China tariffs weigh heavily
Indian stock markets fell on Wednesday as both indices declined, influenced by global market trends and the looming 104 per cent tariffs on China announced by Trump. The RBI's policy meeting is in focus, with expectations of a 0.25 per cent rate cut. Asian markets also saw significant declines, with Japan's Nikkei 225 down by 3.66 per cent.
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 9 (ANI): Indian stock markets on Wednesday reversed the gains, with both indices declining in opening, taking cues from global markets as Trump announced China tariffs of 104 per cent loom, showing no near relief in the tariff dark clouds.
The Nifty 50 index declined by -75.55 (-0.34 per cent) to open at 22,460.30, while the BSE Sensex opened at 74,103.83 with a decline of -123.25 points or -0.17 per cent.
Experts stated that today, the RBI MPC announcement is the main focus for Indian stock markets, but Trump's tariff effect is still significant, dragging markets globally.
Ajay Bagga Banking and Market Expert told ANI, "In all the Tariff tumult, there has been little focus on the MPC meeting outcome this morning. RBI has commendably moved on the path of monetary easing using the triple arrows of Rate Cuts, Liquidity injection and macro prudential easing. We expect continuity on easing and these steps today, expect a rate cut of 0.25 per cent."
He added, "With liquidity having been injected, CRR cut is off the table for now. Inflation number stays as per last meeting, nothing moving it up, crude oil move down has been too recent and has not flown through to end users as the govt has focussed on LPG subsidy recovery via excise duty hike for now. Growth number stays constant, though tariff tumult will lead to a hit to GDP for FY26 if there is no relief."
In the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 was down by 3.66 per cent, while Taiwan Weighted continued to tank with a loss of more than 4 per cent at the time of filing this report. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down by 1.52 per cent, and South Korea's KOSPI index also lost 1.40 per cent.
Akshay Chinchalkar, Head of Research, Axis Securities, said, "The Nifty's rebound yesterday needs to do more for bulls to extend their optimism. Unless we close above 22857, the bias will be weak. For the day, support lies in the 22236-22292 zone. For this week, bulls have to ensure a close over 22150, else the recent lows will again come under threat".
US markets opened strongly in the green. There was hope that with tariff deals with South Korea and Japan being touted, the peak uncertainty was behind us. However, as China's tariffs of 104 per cent loom, it saw a sharp reversal in the US markets later in the session, and the US markets ended in the red for a fourth day, taking the four-day S&P 500 loss to 12 per cent, with over USD 10 trillion of market cap lost.
The S&P 500 closed with a loss of 1.57 per cent, while the Nasdaq closed down with a 2.15 per cent loss. (ANI)