Sensex, Nifty To Open Sharply Higher After US Tariff Pause

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open on a buoyant note Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly announced a 90-day pause on new "reciprocal tariffs" on most countries, but raised duties for China, making Beijing increasingly isolated for its "lack of respect" shown to world's markets. However, all other countries face a baseline tariff of 10 percent.

Additional tariffs on India have been suspended until July 9 this year, according to the White House executive orders.

Indian markets were closed on Thursday on the occasion of Shri Mahavir Jayanti.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty fell around half a percent each on Wednesday, tracking weak cues from global markets amid global tariff tensions.

The rupee fell by 43 paise to close at 86.69 against the dollar, extending its losing streak for the fourth straight session as the Reserve Bank of India reduced its key policy rates for the second straight meeting and also changed its monetary policy stance to accommodative.

Foreign investors offloaded Indian shares worth Rs 4,358 crore on Wednesday, marking their eighth consecutive session of selling, while domestic institutions bought shares to the extent of Rs 2,976 crore, as per provisional data.

Asian markets were sharply lower this morning after scoring big gains in the previous session. There were concerns that the U.S.-China trade war will probably get worse before it gets better.

Bonds dropped and the dollar weakened, while the Swiss franc touched the highest level in a decade and gold set a new high on safe-haven demand.

The Japanese yen rose to around 143 per dollar, a level not seen since October. Oil held its biggest drop this week on demand concerns.

U.S. stocks ended lower overnight after a historic rally seen in the previous session in response to the temporary tariff relief.

President Trump didn't rule out extending his 90-day tariff pause but said if the White House can't come to new agreements with its trading partners, the steeper rates would go back into effect.

In economic releases, U.S. inflation cooled broadly in March while there has been a slight increase in jobless claims last week.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 4.3 percent as the White House confirmed that the cumulative tariff rate on China would actually total 145 percent. The S&P 500 tumbled 3.5 percent and the Dow lost 2.5 percent.

European shares logged their biggest one-day gains since 2022 on Thursday after Trump decided to delay new tariffs by 90 days.

The pan-European STOXX 600 surged 3.7 percent. The German DAX soared 4.5 percent, France's CAC 40 rallied 3.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 surged 3 percent.