At around 9:20 am, the BSE Sensex was down 734 points, or 0.91%, at 80,718, while the Nifty50 declined 191 points, or 0.77%, to 24,548.
The market capitalisation of all listed companies on BSE declined by Rs 2.06 lakh crore to Rs 442.13 lakh crore.
Meanwhile, India’s economy surged 7.4% in the January-March quarter, much faster than forecasts and driven by construction and manufacturing.
Markets are pricing in a 25-basis-point rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at its June 6 policy meeting, which could lift sentiment in rate-sensitive sectors such as financials, autos, real estate and consumer goods.
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From the Sensex pack, HDFC Bank, HCL Tech, Reliance Industries, Titan, and Infosys were among the top losers, slipping up to 2%. In contrast, Adani Ports, Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, and Nestle opened with modest gains.On the sectoral front, Nifty IT declined 1.2%, while Nifty Financial Services, Metal, Pharma, and Consumer Durables indices opened 0.5% to 1% lower.
Experts View
“The market structure favours the continuation of the ongoing consolidation phase. There are global headwinds like renewed tariff concerns that will restrain a breakout rally. At the same time, there are domestic tailwinds that will support the market at lower levels. President Trump’s 50% tariffs on steel and aluminium are a clear message that the tariff and trade scenario will continue to be uncertain and turbulent. This headwind will impact markets,” said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments.
“On the domestic front, the tailwinds are getting stronger with the latest Q4 GDP growth data coming at 7.4%, which is much better than expected. Trends in consumption expenditure and capital expenditure are promising. This, along with low inflation and the expected continuation of the rate-cutting policy, provides the perfect setting for sustained economic growth in FY26. The only challenge is the tepid earnings growth,” Vijayakumar added.
Also read: Ircon International shares jump over 2% after winning Rs 1,068 crore EPC contract from railways
Global Markets
Asian share markets and the dollar made a soft start on Monday as U.S.-China trade tensions continued to simmer, while investors turned defensive ahead of key U.S. jobs data and a widely expected cut in European interest rates.
Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.4%, while Hong Kong dropped 2.5%.
S&P 500 futures eased 0.4% and Nasdaq futures lost 0.5%. The S&P had climbed 6.2% in May, while the Nasdaq rallied 9.6% on hopes that final import levies would be far lower than the initial sky-high levels. EUROSTOXX 50 futures dipped 0.2%, while FTSE futures and DAX futures were little changed.
FII Tracker
Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) turned net sellers on Friday after five sessions of buying but were net buyers for May, with inflows totalling $2.34 billion – the highest monthly total since September 2024.
Also read: RBI expected to ease rates to spur demand amid growth optimism
Rupee vs Dollar
The Indian rupee rose 6 paise to 85.49 against the US dollar in early trade. The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major world currencies, declined 0.02% to 99.3 level.
(With inputs from agencies)
