Expert mantra: Count on leaders to beat turmoil

Banking, FMCG, telecom biggies may help protect portfolios amid tariff woes

- Mayur Bhalerao

Markets staged a stellar show in a week of truncated trading, surging 4.5% to wipe out all the losses of the year. However, the roller coaster ride since US President Donald Trump unleashed his tariff war on the world has rattled investors globally, including in India. Anxiety prevails, as investors look to protect their portfolios at a time of severe turbulence.

Asian markets were rattled after the US announced sweeping tariffs, imposing a blanket 10% duty on all imports and targeting key economies with steeper levies. China retaliated swiftly, escalating tensions into a trade war. The Nifty 50 plunged over 5% in the four days after Trump's reciprocal tariffs announcement, while the India Volatility Index (VIX) shot up 65.7% to 22.8 on 7 April, its sharpest single-day spike since 2007.

The 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs on most nations powered a rally, but concerns remain. Market experts shared insights with Mint to identify sectors and stocks expected to weather potential trade-induced slowdowns or a full-blown recession:

Threat & opportunity

Aamar Deo Singh, senior vice president-research at Angel One identified four sectors—electronics, jewellery, textiles, and pharma—as the most exposed.

"Pharma sector—currently, tariffs have not been announced, but there is bound to be a significant announcement by Donald Trump, so that could have an impact on our pharma companies—to a negative extent. The US market is critical for Indian pharmaceutical firms, evidenced by the approximately $10 billion worth of pharmaceuticals exported to the US in 2023.