By Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M
MUMBAI (Reuters) -Indian shares fell on Thursday, with the benchmarks slipping to three-month lows, after the U.S. slapped an extra 25% tariff on Indian exports, stoking concerns over the economic impact of heightened trade tensions.
The Nifty 50 was down 0.4% at 24,475.55 points and the BSE Sensex lost 0.38% to 80,236.69 as of 10:22 a.m. IST. Both benchmarks fell to their lowest intraday levels since May.
The broader small- and mid-caps lost 0.4% each.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed the additional tariff on Indian goods, citing New Delhi’s continued imports of Russian oil.
“As such, there is no major fresh negative surprise. Moreover, a 20-day window remains for negotiations, with a U.S. trade delegation expected to visit India on August 24, which is trimming the losses in markets,” said Santosh Meena, head of research at Swastika Investmart.
If implemented, a 50% tariff could significantly impact trade flows, weigh on economic growth and trigger a near-term knee-jerk reaction in domestic markets, said Mahesh Patil, chief investment officer at Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC.
Before the additional tariff announcement, the Reserve Bank of India retained its GDP growth forecast for the year at 6.5%, downplaying tariff-related uncertainties.
Analysts said the additional tariff has also kept foreign investors on edge.
Foreign portfolio investors have already pulled out Indian shares worth $900 million so far in August, following $2 billion in outflows in July.
“The market’s near-term texture looks fragile, weighed down by a double whammy of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff aggression and underwhelming June-quarter earnings,” Swastika’s Meena said.
Sectors such as textiles, gems, and jewellery are particularly vulnerable to further downside pressure, he added.
Textile makers Trident, Gokaldas Exports, Arvind, KPR Mill and Welspun Living lost 0.7%-3%.
In contrast, PVR Inox rose 4.2% after posting a sharply narrower quarterly loss, with multiple brokerages projecting stronger earnings visibility for fiscal 2026.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M; additional reporting by Pranav Kashyap in Mumbai; Editing by Sumana Nandy, Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Sonia Cheema)
