Indian benchmark market indices Sensex and Nifty went on a free fall on Thursday, July 31, after US President Donald Trump slapped 25 per tariffs on all Indian exports to the United States of America starting August 1 2025.
After announcing a ‘penalty’ on India for dealing with crude oil and defence equipment with Russia, Trump took to his own social media platform, Truth Social, to say: “I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care”.
India is the fourth largest economy in the world, but that did not stop the MAGA leader from venting out his frustration with India’s dealings with Russia. “We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World,” he added.
Despite assurances from the Indian government that they “remain committed” to “concluding a fair, balanced and mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement” with the US, investors did not seem to share the optimism.
The Sensex tumbled more than 786 points to 80,695.15 in Thursday morning trade, while the Nifty slumped 220 points to 24,635 as the rout shaved off profits from the week.
V.K. Vijayakumar of Geojit Investments told agencies that Indian exports and GDP growth would “certainly” take a short-term hit due to the Trump tariffs and the penalties.
Major Sensex names Airtel, Reliance, Maruti Suzuki, Titan, and Bajaj Finance led the laggards in the 30-pack equity benchmark index of the BSE. Only Eternal, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, and Power Grid were trading higher in the Sensex.
A day earlier, on Wednesday, July 30, despite foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloading ₹850.04 crore worth of equities, Sensex settled 143.91 points or 0.18 per cent higher at 81,481.86, and the Nifty closed 33.95 points or 0.14 per cent higher at 24,855.05.
