Stocks remain under pressure over tariff uncertainties; Sensex down 203 points

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 20 (ANI): Domestic stock markets, on Thursday, ended marginally lower on third consecutive trading session, impacted by hit in financial stocks, as international trade tensions weighed on investor sentiment.
On the close of the trading session on Thursday, BSE Sensex ended in the red, declining 203.22 points or 0.27 per cent at 75,735.96, while Nifty 50 at National Stock Exchange stood at 22,913.15, slipping 19.75 points or 0.08 per cent.
The market participants in the markets are analysing the impact of United States tariffs on the global trade. According to Global investment firm Goldman Sachs if tariffs are imposed, then it could impact India's GDP by 0.1-0.6 per cent.
"Domestic equity indices experienced minor losses as rising concerns over potential US tariffs on Indian goods led to capital outflows. Additionally, the proposed trade policy is expected to exert inflationary pressures, with the latest Fed Minutes indicating that an interest rate cut may be delayed," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
He further added that the broader market, however, showed an initial recovery, supported by expectations of improving consumption from Q1FY26, driven by moderating domestic inflation and the recent RBI rate cut.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services stated, "Trump's tariff talks continue to impact markets. Trump's declaration yesterday that the US will impose 25% tariffs on automobiles, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals impacted India's pharma stocks since India's leading pharma companies are major exporters to the US."
"A positive news is the RBI indicating growth recovery in H2 FY25. This bodes well for growth and earnings recovery in FY26. Market will start responding positively to the high frequency data indicating growth recovery. Beaten down midcaps like defence stocks are witnessing some buying," he added expressing his optimism.
Meanwhile, observing the market, Ajit Mishra - SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd said that the ongoing lack of sustained alignment between two key sectors, banking and IT.
He added, "The ongoing lack of sustained alignment between two key sectors--banking and IT--continues to create uncertainty among market participants, as other sectors are not in a position to drive a major trend. However, the recent rebound in broader indices has offered some relief."
The stocks of HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and Tata Consumer were the major losers while Shriram Finance, NTPC, Adani Ports, M&M, Bharat Electronics were the gainers at the end of the trading session.
On BSE, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices saw upward move of 1 percent each. On the sectoral front at NSE, auto, metal, oil & gas, media, power, realty, PSU saw an uptick of 1-2 per cent, while bank index was down 0.5 per cent. (ANI)