By Bharath Rajeswaran
(Reuters) -India’s benchmark indexes closed in the red for the seventh session in a row on Thursday, hit by mounting concerns over the United States imposing new tariffs and prospects of fewer rate cuts in the world’s largest economy.
The Nifty 50 shed 0.06% to 23,031.40, while the BSE Sensex settled 0.04% lower at 76,138.97.
The indexes have lost about 3% over seven sessions, on concerns over slowing economic growth, sustained foreign selling and U.S. trade policy.
Seven of the 13 major sectors fell on the day. The broader, more domestically focussed smallcaps declined 0.37% while midcaps added 0.25%.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would soon impose a reciprocal tariff on every country that charges duties on U.S. shipments.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to visit the White House on Thursday, with planned tariff reductions in at least a dozen sectors in an effort to avoid a trade war with the U.S.
“Investors tread with caution ahead of the announcement on U.S. reciprocal tariff, which will significantly influence the near-term trajectory of Indian markets,” Kranthi Bathini, director of equity strategy at Wealthmills Securities said.
Meanwhile, higher than expected U.S. inflation has raised prospects of fewer Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2025.
“Sticky U.S. inflation data could prompt the Fed to maintain a higher-for-longer stance on rates, which could trigger further capital outflows from emerging markets such as India,” said Subho Moulik, founder and chief executive of fintech company Appreciate.
Foreign investors have offloaded domestic shares worth $10.67 billion so far in 2025.
On the day, drug maker Lupin rose 1.3% on expectations of high U.S. sales growth while SBI Cards and Payment Services jumped 5.3% after a rating upgrade from Macquarie.
Tata Steel rose 3% after India’s steel minister said the country could impose a temporary tax on steel from China.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Sumana Nandy, Eileen Soreng and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
