Indian benchmark indices opened lower on Thursday, taking a breather after the previous day’s sharp rally, as investors assessed the implications of Donald Trump’s return to the White House and awaited the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision.
As of 9.45 am, both the Sensex and Nifty indexes are experiencing slight declines. The Sensex opened at 80,563.42, up from its previous close of 80,378.13, but has since dropped to 80,003.35, marking a decrease of 374.78 points or 0.47 per cent. Similarly, the Nifty opened at 24,489.60, slightly above its previous close of 24,484.05, but is now trading at 24,361.95, down by 122.10 points or 0.5 per cent.
The market pullback comes despite US stocks recording their best post-election day performance in 128 years. “Trump’s victory is turning out to be more potentially transformative than thought earlier. With the Congress and Senate under Republican control, hugely transformational decisions are possible,” said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
However, he cautioned that “Trump’s threat to impose a 60 per cent tariff on Chinese imports and 10-20 per cent tariff on other countries, could trigger inflation and force the Fed to rethink its rate cut policy.”
Among sectors, IT stocks showed a mixed performance despite potential benefits from Trump’s policies. “Trump’s proposal to reduce tax on US domestic production from 21 per cent to 15 per cent may give room for IT outsourcing to companies such as TCS and HCL Technologies,” noted Pranay Aggarwal, CEO of Stoxkart.
In early trade, Apollo Hospitals and Tata Steel led the gainers, both up 6.36 per cent, followed by HCL Tech (0.66 per cent), Coal India (0.61 per cent), and TCS (0.46 per cent). On the flip side, Hindalco was the top loser, falling 6.93 per cent, followed by Adani Enterprises (-2.87 per cent), Ultratech Cement (-1.56 per cent), Bajaj Finserv (-1.53 per cent), and Power Grid (-1.40 per cent).
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers, offloading equities worth ₹4,445 crore on November 6, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers, purchasing equities worth ₹4,889.33 crore.
The markets are also watching the telecom sector as Polycab India emerged as the lowest bidder for a BSNL contract valued at ₹1,549.66 crore for the BharatNet project in Bihar.
On the global front, Asian markets traded mixed, with Japan’s Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng down 0.6 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively, as investors evaluated the implications of a second Trump presidency.
In commodities, gold and silver prices dropped to nearly one-month lows. “The dollar index and US 10-year bond yields surged to four-month highs, applying pressure on precious metals,” said Rahul Kalantri, VP Commodities at Mehta Equities.
Crude oil futures traded higher, with Brent crude at $75.58, up 0.88 per cent, and WTI crude at $72.15, up 0.64 per cent at 9.22 AM.
“Even though Trump’s anti-China policy has positive implications for India, Trump has been critical of India’s high tariffs and won’t hesitate to impose tariffs on India’s exports to the US,” warned Vijayakumar, suggesting a cautious approach for investors during this period of “euphoria and uncertainty.”
