Mumbai, Feb 3 (IANS) The Indian equity markets surged sharply by around 3 per cent early on Tuesday with broad-based buying across sectors, buoyed by the announcement of the India-US trade deal.
As of 9.25 am, Sensex added 2,421 points, or 2.97 per cent, to reach 84,088, and Nifty gained 741 points, or 2.96 per cent to settle at 25,829.
India and United States have agreed to a trade agreement under which reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods will be slashed to 18 per cent from 25 per cent, and the additional 25 per cent duty on purchases of Russian crude oil will be eliminated. The trade deal will be “effective immediately”, President Donald Trump said, following a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi late on Monday, offering immediate tariff relief for India.
Main broad-cap indices posted strong gains, as the Nifty Midcap 100 surged 3.10 per cent, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 added 3.25 per cent.
All sectoral indices were showed huge gains with realty, auto, consumer durables and IT being the major gainers, up 4.47 per cent, 3.78 per cent, 3.69 per cent and 3.04 per cent, respectively.
At 18 per cent, India’s tariff rate is now lower than that of several major export-oriented Asian economies. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Vietnam face tariffs of 20 per cent, while Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Pakistan face tariffs of 19 per cent.
Immediate support for Nifty lies at 25,600-25,800 zone, while resistance is anchored at 26,200–26,350 zone, market watchers said.
“The dramatic announcement of the long-awaited US-India trade deal and the US decision to cut tariffs on India from 50 per cent to 18 per cent is a game changer for the Indian economy and stock markets as its delay was the single important factor weighing on the markets,” an analyst said.
According to market watchers, India’s growth rate will rise to around 7.5 per cent in FY27, assisted by higher exports to the US from the deal, and corporate earnings already on revival could accelerate to around 16 per cent to 18 per cent in FY27.
Analysts also said that the rupee will rebound sharply, adding that the combination of US-India trade deal, the EU-India trade deal and the growth-oriented Budget will boost the market sentiments. The positive sentiment could trigger immediate foreign capital inflows, potentially turning India’s Balance of Payments (BoP) position.
Large caps including banking leaders, non-banking financials, telecom, capital goods and IT, which are trading the favourites of FII can see huge inflows, market watchers said.
In Asian markets, China’s Shanghai index gained 0.38 per cent, and Shenzhen added 0.93 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei surged 3.23 per cent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index edged up 0.11 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi surged 5.04 per cent.
The US markets ended largely in the green in the last trading session as Nasdaq gained 0.56 per cent. The S&P 500 advanced 0.54 per cent, and the Dow added 1.05 per cent.
On February 2, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold equities worth Rs 1,832 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers of equities worth Rs 2,446 crore.
—IANS
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