Indian Equities, Currency, Bonds Stay Resilient Amid Global Spin

The impact of tariffs might have already been priced in, which led to softer reaction

- Dipti Sharma & Shayan Ghosh

Indian equities, bonds and currency showed some resilience even as US President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs sent global markets into a tailspin.

Trump fired up global trade tensions by announcing a baseline 10% tariff on all imports starting 5 April, with additional reciprocal tariffs on specific countries from 9 April. India will face a tariff of 27% (in addition to the existing levy), while China's rate soars to 54%, up from the previous 20%.

Gift Nifty futures took a hit early on Thursday morning, dropping nearly 2%, while Indian benchmark indices Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex fell 1% in pre-open trade. However, Nifty 50 and Sensex later trimmed some losses, ending the day's trade 0.35% and 0.42% lower, respectively.

According to provisional data from BSE, FIIs net sold Indian equities worth ₹2,806 crore, but DIIs net purchased ₹221.47 crore on Thursday. In comparison, Japan's Nikkei 225 was down 2.77%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 1.52% lower, and South Korea's Kospi was down 0.76%.