Street at 7-month low as Trump rattles investors

FII selling in Jan hits ₹52,317 crore; more pressure likely as liquidity stays tight

- Dipti Sharma

Donald Trump's sabre-rattling before and after his swearing-in sent Indian markets scurrying for cover on Tuesday, with benchmarks Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex tumbling to their respective seven-month lows, leaving investors poorer by ₹7.5 trillion.

Investors were already in a sombre mood, thanks to sluggish corporate earnings, foreign investor sell-offs, and pre-budget jitters. The uncertainty sparked by the new US president's assertions and executive actions on his day one in office only added fuel to the fire.

The Nifty 50 fell 1.4% to close at 23,024.65, while the Sensex slumped 1.6%, ending the day at 75,838.36. Further, all sectoral indices closed in the red on Tuesday, with Nifty Realty and Consumer Durables taking the biggest hits, falling by more than 4% each.

Provisional data shows that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold Indian equities worth ₹5,920 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought stocks worth ₹3,500 crore. As of Tuesday, FIIs have offloaded a staggering ₹52,317 crore worth of Indian equities this month, while DIIs have been on a buying spree, net purchasing ₹57,189 crore.

"Today's market fall reflects a mix of global and domestic concerns," said Shripal Shah, managing director and CEO of Kotak Securities. With Trump back in power and announcing new tariff measures, global markets have turned cautious, he explained.