Indian markets hold steady, close flat amid US tariff uncertainty

MUMBAI: Indian stock benchmarks closed their first day of the week with slight gains, as investors remained cautious ahead of anticipated US tariff announcements. At the end of the trading session, the Nifty ticked up by 0.0012 per cent at 25,461.30. The BSE’s Sensex was up by 9.61 points, reaching 83,442.50.

“Market participants appeared reluctant to take aggressive positions, keeping the broader index range-bound. The sentiment was further dampened by global uncertainty, prompting a defensive approach across key sectors”, said Sundar Kewat, technical and derivatives analyst, Ashika Institutional Equity.

US President Donald Trump issued a strong warning to countries supporting what he termed were the anti-American policies of BRICS. In a social media post, Trump stated that any country aligning itself with the “Anti-American policies of BRICS” will face an additional 10 per cent tariff on goods. “There will be no exceptions to this policy,” Trump wrote, adding, “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Additionally, India and the US have been negotiating over a Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) before the critical July 9 deadline of the 90-day pause on tariff escalations.

Among the index constituents, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Consumer Products and Nestle India emerged as the top gainers, while BEL and Tech Mahindra were the major losers. On the sectoral front, the Nifty FMCG and Nifty Oil and Gas Index closed in the green zone, while the Nifty Media and Nifty IT indices ended the day in the negative zone.

“The momentum indicators in the smaller time frames are rising from the oversold region, indicating a potential upside from the current level”, said Praveen Dwarakanath, vice-president of Hedged.in. “The index can be volatile owing to the tariff-related news and the expiry of 10th July; however, a dip in the index can be used as an opportunity to go long”, he added.

Experts believe markets to remain in range bound till a clear picture of the US tariff comes out. (ANI)