Indian Markets Stumble Amid Global Tariff Tensions

Indian stock markets opened lower following global cues as tariffs continue to cast uncertainty. Experts focus on RBI's monetary moves while climbing trade tensions overshadow expected rate cuts. Asian markets fall, and Wall Street reverses gains, closing in the red, stressing the volatility fostered by escalating tariffs.

Indian stock markets experienced a downturn on Wednesday morning, grappling with global market volatility as the announcement of new tariffs by former U.S. President Donald Trump on China created a climate of uncertainty.

The Nifty 50 index dropped by 75.55 points, opening at 22,460.30, while the BSE Sensex descended by 123.25 points, starting at 74,103.83. Financial experts highlighted the crucial role of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announcement today, while Trump's tariffs continued to exert a significant impact globally.

Ajay Bagga, a banking and market expert, emphasized the pivotal RBI policies, projecting a 0.25% interest rate cut as they follow a strategy of monetary easing through rate cuts, liquidity injections, and macroprudential easing. He noted these steps might not suffice to offset the tariff turmoil affecting GDP predictions for FY26 if relief is not forthcoming. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell by 3.66%, and Taiwan's Weighted Index plummeted by over 4%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's KOSPI indices similarly faced declines of 1.52% and 1.40% respectively.

Akshay Chinchalkar from Axis Securities advised cautious optimism for bulls, indicating a need for Nifty to surpass 22,857 to sustain bullish momentum. Meanwhile, U.S. markets saw early gains wiped out as their session ended with the S&P 500 index down 1.57% and Nasdaq dropping 2.15%, marking a significant loss streak following China's looming 104% tariffs.

(With inputs from agencies.)