NIFTY50 slips below 24,700 level, Sensex falls 219 points as Trump threatens to raise tariffs on India; IndusInd Bank soars 5%

The Indian stock market slipped into the red in the opening session on Tuesday, August 5, as investors turned cautious following US President Donald Trump’s threat to raise tariffs “substantially” on Indian goods over Russian oil purchases.

In a fresh trade threat against India, Trump accused India of buying massive amounts of Russian oil and selling it for big profits. In its reaction, India said it will take all necessary steps to safeguard and promote national interest and that the implications of the tariffs are being examined.

Among sectors, Nifty FMCG (-0.34%), Nifty Oil and Gas (-0.32%) and Nifty IT (-0.20%) were the only laggards. Nifty Media (0.35%), Nifty PSU Bank (0.28%) and Nifty Metal (0.22%) were the top gainers in the early session.

According to exchange data, on Monday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth ₹2,566.51 crore on a net basis, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased ₹4,386.29 crore worth of equities.

Globally, on Wall Street, all three major indices logged their biggest daily percentage rise on Monday as investors ramped up bets for a September interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve after Friday's weaker-than-expected jobs data.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq had hit a string of record highs recently.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 585.06 points, or 1.34%, to close at 44,173.64; the S&P 500 climbed 91.93 points, or 1.47%, to close at 6,329.94; and the Nasdaq Composite increased 403.45 points, or 1.95%, to settle at the 21,053.58 level.

Tracking the US markets, most of the stocks in Asia were trading higher on Tuesday. Investors were also relieved as oil steadied after a three-day drop.

Japan's Nikkei was trading up 0.75% at 40,593 levels, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was seen marginally lower at the 24,718 level. The Shanghai Composite gained 0.53% at 3,602.13 levels, and South Korea’s Kospi index rose 1.24% to 3,186.63.

As many as 2,425 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which 1,571 were trading in the green, 764 were trading in the red, and 90 shares remained unchanged.

This indicates that the market's breadth was in favour of advances.

Meanwhile, 31 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while only 15 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Further, 36 stocks also hit their lower circuits, while 13 stocks hit their upper circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading 0.41% lower at 11.92 levels.

HDFC Bank led the pack of losers, declining 1.10%, followed by Bharat Electronics (-0.94%), Nestle India (-0.63%), Reliance Industries (-0.62%) and Tata Consumer Products (-0.60%).

On the flip side, IndusInd Bank soared 4.84%, making it the biggest gainer. Jio Financial Services (0.94%), Maruti Suzuki (0.70%), State Bank of India (0.67%) and Coal India (0.65%) were the other top gainers on the 50-share index.