“US Tariff Concerns Drag Markets Down; Sensex Falls 600 Points, Nifty Under 24,800”

Indian Markets Slip Ahead of US Tariffs; Sensex Falls 543 Points, Nifty Near 24,800.

Indian equities extended losses on Tuesday as investors turned cautious ahead of fresh US tariffs due to take effect from Wednesday. The BSE Sensex fell 543 points, or 0.66%, to close at 81,093, while the Nifty50 dropped 165 points to 24,803, hovering close to the 24,800 mark.

What Dragged the Market

Market sentiment weakened after US President Donald Trump sacked Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over alleged falsification of mortgage documents and threatened export curbs on semiconductors in response to digital services taxes imposed by other nations.

On the Sensex, selling pressure was seen in heavyweights including Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, BEL, Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid, Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, NTPC, Axis Bank, and Trent.

The broader indices also slipped, with the Nifty MidCap down 0.88% and SmallCap lower by 0.90%. Sectorally, pharma (-1.36%), realty (-1%), metals (-0.77%), and PSU banks (-0.68%) led the decline. FMCG was the lone gainer, edging up 0.09%.

Nifty Technical Outlook

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, said intraday sentiment remains range-bound, making level-based trading favorable.

Upside: Key breakout at 25,000; next targets 25,150–25,200.

Downside: Immediate support at 24,900–24,850; breach could extend fall to 24,750–24,700.

Global Market Cues

Weak global sentiment also weighed on domestic markets. The MSCI Asia Pacific index slipped 0.7%, dragged by Japan’s Nikkei (-1.09%) and South Korea’s Kospi (-0.86%).

On Wall Street, optimism over rate cuts faded on Monday, with the S&P 500 down 0.43% and the Nasdaq lower by 0.22%.