Sensex Nifty Decline On Tariff Worries

(RTTNews) - Indian shares opened on a sluggish note on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump's 50 percent tariffs on Indian goods came into effect, impacting trade worth billions of dollars and risking Washington-New Delhi ties.

The Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), a New Delhi-based think tank, said that textiles, gems, jewelry, shrimp and carpets would be worst affected, with the sectors bracing for a 70 percent collapse in exports, endangering hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Meanwhile, media reports quoted a senior government official as saying that India may consider relaxing certain FDI restrictions on Chinese investments amidst improving bilateral relations.

"If need be, we can take a relook at Press Note 3," the official said. "All options are open."

In an interview with Bloomberg, U.S. President Donald Trump's trade counsellor Peter Navarro has accused India of playing a double game on trade and energy, alleging that its actions amounted to "Modi's war".

The benchmark BSE Sensex was down 512 points, or 0.6 percent, at 80,274 in early trade, while the broader NSE Nifty index dipped 157 points, or 0.6 percent, to 24,555.

Among the prominent decliners, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, Infosys, TCS, Tata Motors, Power Grid Corp, HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma and HCL Technologies fell 1-2 percent.

Eternal rose 1.1 percent after BNP Paribas bought 10.12 crore shares in the company via a block deal.

InterGlobe Aviation slumped 4 percent after reports that promoter Rakesh Gangwal and his family trust are likely to divest up to 3.1 percent stake for Rs 7,027.7 crore in the company.

United Breweries declined 1.4 percent after announcing plans to expand its Telangana brewery capacity.