Tariffs and Middle‑East tensions spark bearish opening in Indian equities

Mumbai, July 24 – Weak signals from global markets saw India’s equity arena open on a negative note on Friday. By 9:24 a.m., the Sensex had slid 499 points, a 0.65% fall, to 75,991, while the Nifty dipped 149 points, or 0.66%, closing at 23,725.

The session’s early momentum was dictated by a slump in real estate and consumer durable shares, with Nifty Realty and Nifty Consumer Durables each dropping more than one percent, making them the top decliners. Other sectors – auto, infrastructure, metals, consumption, oil & gas, defence, services, financial services and manufacturing – also recorded losses. Only the Nifty IT index remained in the green.

Mid‑cap and small‑cap breadth was also negative, as the Nifty Midcap 100 fell 451 points (0.73%) to 61,233 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 slipped 164 points (0.87%) to 18,771.

Among individual equities, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and TCS were the few bright spots, while a broad list including Indigo, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, M&M, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Infosys, Asian Paints, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv and SBI ended lower.

Analysts attribute the downward drift to two main factors: escalating geopolitical tension in the Middle East and the U.S. announcement of new tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on imports from 60 trading partners. The Trump administration justified the move by alleging gaps in the enforcement of a forced‑labour ban.

The global picture was similarly dour, with Asian markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Bangkok, Seoul and Jakarta all trading lower. In the United States, the Dow Jones closed down 0.97% and the tech‑related index fell 2.15% on Thursday, reinforcing the negative sentiment.