Following a moratorium on Trump Tariffs for 90 days, the domestic benchmark equity indices may saw a positive trading sentiment on Friday when the markets open after public holiday on Thursday. With the 90-day pause, the markets are likely to get a breather,
lifting investors’ mood, with the Government getting more time to work on the MEGA deal with the US.
Trump has declared a three-month pause on reciprocal tariffs on non-retaliating countries marking a rather
unexpected U-turn after record-high levies he imposed led to global stock market meltdown. World markets were in a euphoric state following Trump’s decision to put his sharp tariff hikes on hold for 90 days.
In Asian markets, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index jumped 9.13 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi surged 6.60 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng went up 2.06 per cent and Shanghai SSE Composite index climbed 1.16 per cent. European markets also rejoiced the announcement and were trading sharply higher.
Trump has, however, made it clear that he would raise tariffs on China to a whopping 125 per cent after Beijing vowed a fresh round of retaliation. For other countries, the rates will revert to the baseline 10 per cent. After the US President unveiled reciprocal tariffs on about 60 countries, including India, last week, both benchmark indices have faced the heat of uncertainties regarding the likely scenario of a global trade war.
Since April 2, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex has lost 2,770.29 points, or 3.61 per cent, and the NSE Nifty slumped 933.2 points, or 3.99 per cent. Investors’ wealth has since eroded Rs 19,15,762.38 crore to Rs 3,93,82,333.22 crore ($4.55 trillion).
Corporates should create a contingency plan and explore alternate markets for their products during the 90-day pause announced by the Trump administration for the levy of reciprocal tariffs, EY said on Thursday. It also provides time for India to finalise and execute the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US to achieve the vision of USD 500 billion in trade by 2030.
