Sensex, Nifty Set For A Muted Start As Tariff Worries Mount

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may open on a flat note Tuesday after suffering heavy losses in the previous session.

Weak sentiment may prevail due to tariff concerns and ahead of results from tech heavyweight Nvidia and the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation data.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty fell over 1 percent each on Monday, with IT stocks pacing the decliners.

The rupee ended little changed, in contrast to the gains in its regional peers boosted by a drop in the dollar and U.S. Treasury yields.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 6,286.70 crore on Monday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 5,185.65 crore, as per provisional data.

Asian markets were deep in the red this morning, with benchmark indexes in New Zealand, Japan and Hong Kong falling 1-2 percent.

The dollar clawed back losses on renewed tariff worries. Gold edged down slightly after hitting a record high on Monday, fueled by safe-haven demand amid concerns over Trump's tariff plans and inflows into the world's largest gold-backed ETF.

Oil extended overnight gains, bolstered by fresh sanctions by the U.S. Treasury on Iran and Iraq's pledge to compensate for its overproduction.

U.S. stocks fluctuated before ending mixed overnight. The S&P 500 dropped half a percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.2 percent as big-name technology stocks declined amid apprehensions over the artificial intelligence-driven narratives.

Heightened tensions over trade also kept investors on edge as President Trump said that tariffs he unveiled on Canada and Mexico will proceed as planned once the monthlong delay ends next week.

Trump also stated at a White conference that the U.S. has been 'taken advantage of' by other nations and he would impose reciprocal tariffs to 'make up a lot of territory.' The narrower Dow ended flat with a positive bias.

European stocks ended mixed on Monday as the conservative alliance in Germany secured victory in the national election and data showed Eurozone inflation surged to a six-month high of 2.5 percent in January and remained above the ECB's medium-term target of 2 percent for the third consecutive month.

The pan European STOXX 600 finished marginally lower. The German DAX rose 0.6 percent, while France's CAC 40 shed 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed little changed with a negative bias.