Opening bell: Sensex, Nifty to open in the red ahead of RBI policy; rate-sensitive stocks in focus

The Indian equity benchmarks, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty, are set to continue their lacklustre trade on Wednesday, tracking mixed cues from global peers, as concerns over new U.S. tariffs on key imports adds to the risk-off mood across global markets. On the domestic front, investors will keep a close eye on the Reserve Bank of India’s policy announcement, with the central bank widely expected to maintain the status quo due to global trade uncertainties.

At 8:10, the GlFT Nifty futures were down 40 points at 24,700, indicating a gap-down opening for the Indian share markets.

RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), headed by Governor Sanjay Malhotra, commenced its three-day meeting on August 4, with the policy outcome scheduled to be announced at 10:00 AM today. Rate-sensitive stocks such as banking, financial services, auto, and realty will be in focus today.

After reducing the repo rate by 100 basis points (bps) over the past three policy meetings, bringing the rate down from 6.5% in February to 5.5% in June, brokerages expect the MPC to maintain the status quo in its latest policy review.

While most economists are of the view that the MPC will keep both the repo rate and its “neutral” policy stance unchanged, some expect the central bank to continue front-loading with a 25 bps cut in the August policy meeting.

On Tuesday, the Indian benchmark indices ended lower as sentiment was dampened after U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to substantially hike tariffs on Indian goods, specifically as retaliation for India’s continued oil imports from Russia. The BSE Sensex ended 308.47 points, or 0.38%, lower at 80,710.25, while the NSE Nifty50 settled at 24,649.55, down 73.20 points, or 0.30%.

The broader markets also mirrored the weakness in the benchmark indices and ended on a bearish note. The Nifty Midcap100 index ended 0.39% lower, while the Nifty Smallcap100 fell 0.16%.

U.S. stocks end lower ahead of new tariff hikes

In overnight trading, Wall Street closed lower as investors closely watched ongoing trade negotiations ahead of new tariff hikes expected later this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.1%, the S&P 500 fell 0.5%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 0.7%.

The market sentiment was dented by a weaker-than-expected report on U.S. services sector activity, with some businesses saying that Trump’s higher tariffs are pushing costs higher. Investors also turned jittery after Trump told CNBC he was considering new tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.

Asian stocks mixed amid weak cues from Wall Street

The performance of equity markets in the Asia-Pacific region was a mixed bag today, tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, where major indices slipped as investors turned cautious ahead of upcoming tariff hikes on key imports. There is also concern in the market that weak American economic data could derail the U.S. Federal Reserve’s rate cut plans.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, South Korea’s KOSPI, and Singapore’s Straits Times fell by up to 0.5%, while Taiwan’s Weighted Index was the top laggard with a 0.75% loss. On the other hand, Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 0.6%, while Indonesia’ Jakarta Composite and China’s Shanghai Composite were trading marginally higher. Australia’s ASX 200 also ended 0.65% higher.

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