Indian benchmark indices opened slightly lower on Thursday amid mixed global cues. At 10 am, The Sensex dropped 642.20 points, or 0.80 per cent, to 79,735.93, while the Nifty fell 209.50 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 24,274.50. Market breadth was skewed towards declines, with 1,919 stocks advancing, 1,176 declining, and 115 remaining unchanged.
Among the top gainers on the BSE were Tata Steel. On the losing side, Ultratech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra and Asian Paints were under pressure.
On Wednesday, Indian equities surged for the second straight day, buoyed by the impact of Donald Trump's victory in the US election.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, “The Trump victory is turning out to be more potentially transformative than thought earlier. With the Congress and the Senate coming under Republican control and President Trump exercising power without bothering about another term in office, hugely transformational decisions are possible in the months following Trump’s assumption of office. These decisions may turn out to be both good and bad. His pro- business initiative of ‘America First’ can strengthen the American economy. But if he walks his talk and imposes a 60 per cent tariff on Chinese imports and 10 to 20 per cent tariff on imports from other countries, that would trigger inflation and jeopardise the Fed’s policy of containing inflation, necessitating a rethink of the Fed’s present policy of rate cut. This has the potential to negatively impact global stock markets.”
“It is important to understand that even though Trump’s anti-China policy has positive implications for India, Trump has been critical of ‘India’s high tariffs’ and won’t hesitate to impose tariffs on India’s exports to the US. The ‘Trump trade’ which has sharply lifted the US markets is unlikely to have a similar positive impact in India since Indian market valuations are high and there are headwinds of an earnings slowdown. Investors should stick to quality and value during this period of euphoria and uncertainty,” he added.