Stock markets decline in morning trade on geopolitical concerns, renewed tariff hike threats

Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty drifted lower in early trade on Wednesday as geopolitical tensions and renewed concerns about potential US tariff hikes weighed on investor sentiments.

Sustained foreign fund outflows also dragged markets lower during the initial trade.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 169.64 points to 84,909.30 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty went down 42.35 points to 26,128.90.

From the 30-Sensex firms, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, and Maruti were among the biggest laggards.

However, Titan, Infosys, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, and Reliance Industries were among the gainers.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 107.63 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. Domestic institutional investors, however, bought stocks worth Rs 1,749.35 crore.

"Rising geopolitical tensions and fresh tariff-related concerns have triggered profit-booking at higher levels, keeping risk appetite in check. As a result, the market is expected to remain largely range-bound, with stock-specific and sector-led moves dominating trade rather than a broad-based directional trend," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi index and Shanghai's SSE Composite index traded higher, while Japan's Nikkei 225 index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index quoted lower.

US markets ended higher on Tuesday.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined 0.87 per cent to USD 60.17 per barrel.

On Tuesday, the Sensex dropped 376.28 points, or 0.44 per cent, to settle at 85,063.34. The Nifty declined 71.60 points, or 0.27 per cent, to end at 26,178.70.