Sensex, Nifty End Slightly Lower; Financials And Automakers Hit Hard

(RTTNews) - Indian shares ended slightly lower on Thursday as tariff worries overshadowed Ukraine and Fed rate-cut optimism.

Domestic markets opened on a firm note earlier in the day after cooler-than-forecast U.S. inflation helped Wall Street rebound from two days of heavy losses overnight.

Additionally, India's retail inflation fell to a seven-month low of 3.6 percent in February and industrial output grew at an eight-month record high rate of 5 percent in January, painting a positive picture of the economy.

However, markets reversed initial gains due to tariff worries and continued foreign fund outflows.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to escalate a global trade war with further tariffs on European Union goods after the EU hit back with import duties on €26 billion worth of American goods "matching the economic scope of the U.S. tariffs."

Canada also responded with 25 percent new tariffs on U.S.-made goods worth C$30 billion (€19 billion) effective at midnight New York time on Thursday, matching the U.S. tariffs "dollar for dollar."

Trump's hyper-focus on tariffs has rattled investors, consumers and business confidence and sparked U.S. recession fears.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex ended the session down 200.85 points, or 0.27 percent, at 73,828.91 while the broader NSE Nifty index closed at 22,397.20, down 73.30 points, or 0.33 percent, from its previous close.

The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes fell 0.8 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively. The market breadth was negative, with 2,455 shares declining while 1,520 shares advanced and 130 shares ended unchanged.

Automakers and financials led losses, with IndusInd Bank, HDFC Life, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp and Shriram Finance falling 2-3 percent.

The Indian stock markets will be closed on March 14, 2025, for Holi, as per NSE and BSE holiday schedules.