Indian benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex ended their two-day losing streak on Wednesday, gaining ground ahead of an anticipated announcement from US President Donald Trump regarding new import tariffs, which the White House confirmed would take immediate effect.

At 9:45 am, the Sensex had risen 428.68 points or 0.56 per cent to 76,453.19, while the Nifty was up 105.55 points or 0.46 per cent at 23,271.25. Of the stocks traded, 1,301 advanced, 1,501 declined, and 132 remained unchanged.

Among the top gainers on the Nifty were Tata Consumer Products, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Infosys, and Maruti Suzuki. Conversely, the biggest laggards included Bharat Electronics, Jio Financial Services, Power Grid Corporation, Coal India, and NTPC.

On Tuesday, D-Street faced a sharp sell-off, with the Sensex tumbling 1,400 points (nearly 2 per cent) and the Nifty dropping 350 points (1.5 per cent). The Nifty IT and Pharma sectors, most sensitive to trade disruptions, led the decline, followed by financial stocks. Market panic intensified as the India VIX, a gauge of investor fear, surged 8 per cent to approach the 14 mark, signaling increased volatility ahead.

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Broader Market Update

The broader market showed mixed signals in the morning session, with the Nifty Midcap 100 edging up 0.2 per cent while the Smallcap 100 slipped 0.3 per cent. Despite a 10–14 per cent decline this year, analysts warn that stretched valuations could pose risks of further downside.

Sectorial Update

Sector-wise, Nifty PSU Bank, Metal, Oil & Gas, and Pharma were the major underperformers, dropping up to 1 per cent in morning trades. Pharma stocks continued their downward trend due to heightened vulnerability to potential Trump tariffs. On the other hand, Nifty IT, Bank, FMCG, and Consumer Durables sectors gained ground, rising up to 0.8 per cent each.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments, said, "The element of uncertainty regarding reciprocal tariffs is expected to come down with the tariff declaration today. But considering Trump’s flip flops on tariffs earlier, the uncertainty is likely to continue beyond today. It appears that FIIs turning buyers in the last several trading days of March was triggered by end of year considerations. The short-covering which FII buying triggered contributed to India’s outperformance in March. Now with FIIs selling for Rs 10255 crores in the cash market in two days, the shorting has resumed. This was reflected in the 353 point sharp cut in Nifty yesterday."