Sensex, Nifty Poised For Weak Start As Tariff Worries Mount

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may drift lower on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump said his proposed 25 percent tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods will take effect on March 4 along with an extra 10 percent duty on Chinese imports over the fentanyl opioid crisis.

His comments came as officials from Mexico and Canada were in Washington for discussions aimed at heading off that plan.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield fell below the 3-month note on Wednesday, forming an "inverted yield curve and signaling the likelihood of a recession within 12 to 18 months.

India's Q3 GDP data is due later in the day and it is estimated that weak urban consumption along with moderation in real estate activity will likely drag economic growth.

Meanwhile, reports suggest that the Indian government is considering proposals to lower tariffs on a wide range of imports, including cars and chemicals, in a bid to evade Trump's threatened reciprocal levies.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended Thursday's session narrowly mixed while the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes tumbled 1 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively.

The rupee reversed early losses to settle almost flat against the greenback at 87.20 per dollar due to RBI intervention.

Asian markets were broadly lower this morning as investors awaited further details on U.S. tariffs and the release of the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation metric later in the day.

The dollar hovered near multi-week highs while gold was on track to end an eight-week winning streak.

Oil was little changed after seeing its daily gain in more than six weeks in the previous session amid supply concerns after the U.S. decided to revoke oil giant Chevron Corporation's license to operate in Venezuela.

U.S. stocks tumbled overnight due to lukewarm response to Nvidia's earnings and rising concerns over tariffs and growth.

In economic releases, applications for U.S. unemployment benefits rose to the highest this year, pending sales of existing homes slumped to a record low in January and economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter while new orders for manufactured durable goods rose in January after two consecutive months of declines, separate set of data revealed.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 2.8 percent to a nearly four-month closing low amid much uncertainty about the potential impact of policies coming out of the White House.

The S&P 500 and the Dow fell 1.6 percent and half a percent, respectively to reach one-month closing lows.

European stocks closed lower on Thursday as Trump's tariff plans fanned trade war fears.

The pan European STOXX 600 dropped half a percent. The German DAX lost 1.1 percent and France's CAC 40 shed half a percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.3 percent after Rolls-Royce lifted its mid-term targets and also announced a share buyback.