Mumbai, July 31 (IANS) The Indian frontline equity indices opened in the red on Thursday after US President Donald Trump announced to slap a steep 25 per cent tariff on imports from the country.

At 9:27 am, Sensex was down 487 points or 0.60 per cent at 80,994 and Nifty was down 140 points or 0.57 per cent at 24,717.

Selling pressure was also seen in midcap and smallcap stocks. Nifty midcap 100 index was down 457 points or 0.79 per cent at 57,484 and Nifty smallcap 100 index was down 100 points or 0.55 per cent at 18,037.

“From the investor perspective, it is important to understand that the 25 per cent tariff will come down after the negotiations which start in mid-August. Tariff imposed on India is far higher than the rates reached in trade deals with other countries,” said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

This is the typical “Trumpian strategy” to get better deals from India in other areas and finally settle at a tariff rate around 20 per cent or less.

“Nifty is unlikely to go below the support level of 24,500. Investors can buy the dip focusing on domestic consumption themes, particularly segments like leading private sector banking names, telecom, capital goods, cement, hotels and select autos which have done well in Q1,” he added.

Almost all sectoral indices turned red in morning trade. Auto, energy, pharma, PSU Bank, financial services, metal, realty and PSE were top laggards.

In the Sensex pack, M&M, Bharti Airtel, Reliance, Infosys, HCL Tech, Titan, SBI, TCS, ICICI Bank, Trent, L&T, HDFC Bank and NTPC were top losers. Eternal, Power Grid, Tata Steel, ITC and HUL were top gainers.

In terms of institutional activity, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their selling streak for the eighth consecutive session on July 30, offloading equities worth Rs 850 crore. Conversely, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) maintained their buying momentum for the 18th straight session, purchasing equities worth Rs 1,829 crore on the same day.

—IANS

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