Sensex, Nifty Snap Seven-day Winning Streak

(RTTNews) - Indian shares ended slightly lower on Thursday as trade war fears resurfaced and India announced strong diplomatic actions against Pakistan, following a deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 26 people.

U.S.-China trade deal optimism faded after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there were no plans for President Trump to move first in lowering tariffs to ease Sino-U.S. tensions, echoing comments from White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt that there will be no unilateral reduction in tariffs against China.

Adding to tariff-related concerns, NHK reported that the U.S. told Japan's trade delegation that it cannot give Japan special treatment regarding its tariff measures during talks held earlier this month.

The benchmark S&P/BSE Sensex fell 315.06 points, or 0.39 percent, to 79,801.43. The broader NSE Nifty index ended down 82.25 points, or 0.34 percent, at 24,246.70 amid the monthly F&O expiry for April series contracts.

The BSE mid-cap index slipped 0.2 percent while the small-cap index ended little changed.

The market breadth was negative on the BSE, with 2,004 shares declining while 1,933 shares advanced and 149 shares closed unchanged.

FMCG major Hindustan Unilever slumped 4 percent after its Q4 results showed muted volume growth and margin pressure along with a weak margin outlook.

Bharti Airtel lost about 2 percent after the telecom major agreed to acquire the rights to 400 MHz spectrum from Adani Data Networks, a subsidiary of Adani Enterprise.

Among the top gainers, IndusInd Bank rallied 3.3 percent, UltraTech Cement added 1.8 percent and Tata Motors rose 1.3 percent.