Indian equity benchmarks opened with sharp losses on Monday, tracking weakness in Asian markets and mounting uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies. Trump accused China of breaching a recent trade agreement and announced a doubling of import tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50% from June 4, aimed at protecting American industry.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at RS. 80867.55, down by RS. 583.46 or 0.72%, moving between RS. 80654.26 and RS. 81285.85. On the index, 7 stocks advanced while 23 declined. The broader BSE Midcap index gained 0.22% and the Smallcap index rose 0.10%.

Sector-wise, Realty (up 0.43%), FMCG (up 0.41%), PSU (up 0.37%), Power (up 0.31%), and Utilities (up 0.19%) were the top gainers. In contrast, IT (down 1.06%), TECK (down 0.90%), Metal (down 0.80%), Basic Materials (down 0.50%), and Auto (down 0.41%) were the top losers.

Key Sensex gainers include Adani Ports & SEZ (up 1.09%), Bharat Electronics (up 0.86%), Hindustan Unilever (up 0.76%), SBI (up 0.60%), and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.40%). Top losers were Tech Mahindra (down 1.62%), HDFC Bank (down 1.48%), Reliance Industries (down 1.45%), HCL Technologies (down 1.45%), and Titan (down 1.32%).

Meanwhile, the Nifty 50 was trading at RS. 24571.60, down by RS. 179.10 or 0.72%, with 16 stocks advancing, 33 declining, and 1 remaining unchanged. Top Nifty gainers were Apollo Hospitals (up 2.44%), Adani Ports & SEZ (up 0.99%), Hindustan Unilever (up 0.88%), Bharat Electronics (up 0.61%), and SBI Life Insurance (up 0.52%). The laggards included Hero MotoCorp (down 2.17%), Bajaj Auto (down 1.78%), HCL Technologies (down 1.61%), Tech Mahindra (down 1.59%), and HDFC Bank (down 1.58%).

On the macroeconomic front, data showed that India’s real GDP growth for Q4 of FY 2024-25 stood at 7.4%, a decline from the 8.4% growth in the same period a year earlier. The full-year GDP growth stood at 6.5%, down from 9.2% in FY 2023-24.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasized India’s consistent growth, driven by manufacturing, services, and agriculture sectors. She noted this was the fourth consecutive year of India being the world’s fastest-growing major economy. She also stressed the need for business-friendly reforms and called for eliminating petty corruption to achieve India’s goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047.

In global markets, Asian indices were under pressure:

• Nikkei 225 dropped 515.63 points (1.36%) to 37,449.47

• Hang Seng fell 511.32 points (2.24%) to 22,778.45

• Taiwan Weighted lost 364.16 points (1.71%) to 20,983.14

• Jakarta Composite declined 119.24 points (1.66%) to 7,056.58

• Straits Times dropped 18.96 points (0.49%) to 3,875.65

• KOSPI slipped 8.84 points (0.33%) to 2,688.83

Separately, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said talks for a free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the EU are progressing rapidly and may conclude by year-end.

In company news, Apollo Hospitals surged on reports of plans to sell its maternity and infant care division.