FX.co ★ India Stocks Move in the Red for 2nd Day

On Monday morning, India's stock market experienced a decline, with the equities index dropping 478 points, or 0.6%, to reach 80,973. This marks a second consecutive session of downturns, largely influenced by weaknesses in the metal sector. This drop came in response to President Trump's announcement on Friday regarding an increase in steel import tariffs, set to rise from 25% to 50% starting Wednesday. The Nifty 50 index also decreased by 0.6%, falling below 24,650, as the Nifty Metal index saw a 1.1% dip, led by a 2.0% fall in Steel and a 1.7% decline in Tata Steel. Similarly, the technology sector faced a 0.6% reduction, with Tech Mahindra and Larsen & Toubro experiencing decreases of 1.2% and 0.8%, respectively. Despite these challenges, strong domestic economic indicators helped mitigate the extent of the losses. The combination of declining inflation and robust GDP growth has fostered hope that the Reserve Bank of India may opt to reduce interest rates during its upcoming policy meeting later this week. Furthermore, inflows from foreign funds played a role in stabilizing the BSE Sensex from further declines.