Indian stock markets shrug off Trump's 25% tariff threat

Dubai: Indian stock market investors have shrugged off the 25% tariff threats from US President Trump – at least for now. Investors are also taking confidence from US-India trade talks scheduled for mid-August.

After starting the day on the wrong foot, with Sensex falling nearly 1% after the first 30 minutes of trading, there was a marked pick up in sentiments.

“In just 15 minutes of trading, Indian markets lost around $60 billion, reflecting investor concern over the tariff shock and broader trade uncertainty,” said Arun John, Chief Market Analyst at Century Financial.

“However, sentiment began to stabilize by mid‑morning. The Sensex then clawed back over 550 points from its lowest level, bringing its net loss to less than 0.1% for most of the session.

“The Nifty, similarly, bounced back above the 24,800 mark. Both indices retraced much of their losses as optimism surfaced about diplomatic engagement and the potential for renegotiating tariff terms down to 15%–20% in talks scheduled for mid‑August.”

At around 1:45pm UAE time, the Sensex is flat, down 0.27% to 81,260. (The market closed 296 points down, or by 0.36%.

It was evening of Wednesday (July 30) that Trump brought out the 25% tariff card. Trading partners with the US had until August 1 to finalize some sort of arrangements. The US announced the deal with the EU over the weekend and also struck one with South Korea on Wednesday.

According to Milan Vaishnav, founder of ChartWizard.ae, it was always likely that Indian stock markets would show resilience over the Trump diktat.

The Indian equities opened negative but on a very resilient note,” said Vaishnav. “The reaction to the US tariffs has been measured, much on the anticipated lines.

“The important point is that the Indian markets are defending their major range supports and not drifting lower. They do not appear to be showing any panic reaction to the tariffs.”