FX.co ★ Sensex Starts Week on Lower Note

India's BSE Sensex ended Monday down by approximately 0.4% at 85,439.6. This decline followed record highs reached on Friday, as escalating geopolitical tensions arose from the recent US military action in Venezuela. Market participants remained wary amid potential US tariff hikes after President Donald Trump indicated that the United States could rapidly impose higher tariffs on Indian goods if India does not reduce its Russian oil imports. In the tech sector, companies such as Infosys (-2.1%), HCLTech (-2.1%), and Tech Mahindra (-0.8%) performed poorly ahead of their quarterly earnings reports, with brokerage firms warning of an uneven recovery in the sector and the possibility of weak quarterly figures. The financial sector also exerted downward pressure, with HDFC Bank decreasing by 2.2% as December-quarter data revealed loans growing faster than deposits. In contrast, BEL gained 2.6%, while Hindustan Unilever and Tata Steel both rose by 1.6%.