Key gauges end lower on weak US markets, FII outflows

Indian equity benchmarks ended over a percent lower on Monday tracking a US market trend and unabated foreign fund outflows amid concerns over US tariffs. After opening with a downside gap, the markets continued to drift down with range bound action throughout the session. The decline was mainly driven by significant losses in heavyweight stocks, especially within the IT sector.

Some of the important factors in today’s trade:

Sustained foreign outflow: Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,449.15 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. Foreign investors have pulled out over Rs 23,710 crore from equity markets so far this month, pushing total outflows past Rs 1 lakh crore in 2025 amid rising global trade tensions. 

Trump to soon impose reciprocal tariffs on India, China: US President Donald Trump has said that his administration will soon impose reciprocal tariffs on countries such as India and China, reiterating what he had said during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to the US capital.

India needs to cut tariffs: NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam has said that tariff does not protect any country and India needs to cut tariffs for its own good, irrespective of who tells India to do so. He further said that being open to the world has to be among the top five priorities of India if it wants to become a developed country. 

Oil prices dip: Oil prices extended last week's losses as investors awaited clarity on talks to end the war in Ukraine and weighed up the prospect of a resumption in crude exports from northern Iraq.  

Global front: European markets were trading mostly in green as traders reacted to the results of Germany’s federal election. Asian markets settled down as weak U.S. economic data rekindled growth worries and U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated that his administration would impose reciprocal tariffs ‘soon’ on countries like India and China.

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 856.65 points or 1.14% to 74,454.41, and the CNX Nifty was down by 242.55 points or 1.06% to 22,553.35.        

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 74,907.04 and 74,387.44 respectively. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.78%, while Small cap index was down by 1.31%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 0.22% and FMCG up by 0.16%, while IT down by 2.60%, TECK down by 2.56%, Telecom down by 2.26%, Metal down by 2.16% and Basic Materials down by 1.53% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.58%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.64%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.25%, Nestle up by 0.24% and ITC up by 0.21%. On the flip side, Zomato down by 3.32%, HCL Technologies down by 3.32%, TCS down by 2.93%, Infosys down by 2.81% and Bharti Airtel down by 2.29% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Praising the Union budget, Union Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya has said that the budget aims to make a healthy economy by setting a proper roadmap with a long-term vision. He added that time has changed in the last 10 years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over.

He said ‘The prime minister has a vision of a developed India by 2047. With a long-term vision, the PM has also laid out his roadmap step by step in every budget’. He also said ‘Our budget aims to build a healthy economy. Each budget for the last ten years is taking the country a step forward’.

The minister highlighted various budget announcements and said that all the sectors have been taken care of in the budget. He said ‘The budget also prioritised infrastructure development and a proper roadmap has been laid out in the budget. The priority was also given to the health sector with a vision to include more poor people under the Ayushmann Yojana.’

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 22,668.05 and 22,518.80. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index. 

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.54%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.14%, Eicher Motors up by 1.09%, Hero MotoCorp up by 0.82% and Nestle up by 0.45%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 3.70%, HCL Technologies down by 3.41%, TCS down by 3.04%, Infosys down by 2.87% and Bharti Airtel down by 2.39% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 26.82 points or 0.31% to 8,686.19 and Germany’s DAX gained 207.74 points or 0.92% to 22,495.30, while France’s CAC fell 14.38 points or 0.18% to 8,140.13.