Stock markets trade lower on weak global trends amid US tariff jitters  

Benchmark indices declined in early trade on Friday mirroring weak trends in the global markets amid uncertainties over Trump tariffs.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex declined 144.66 points to 77,461.77 in early trade. The NSE Nifty dipped 38.7 points to 23,553.25.

From the Sensex pack, Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys, Power Grid, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank were the major laggards.

Nestle, Hindustan Unilever, ITC and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading with deep cuts.

US markets ended lower on Thursday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 11,111.25 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

“The market’s resilience, despite Trump’s reciprocal tariff threats, comes from the renewed buying by FIIs and the confidence this has given to the bulls,” VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

Apart from the tariffs, the market will be looking forward to the April RBI monetary policy and after that the Q4 results, he added.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.07 per cent down at USD 73.98 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark gauge climbed 317.93 points or 0.41 per cent to settle at 77,606.43 on Thursday. The Nifty rallied 105.10 points or 0.45 per cent to 23,591.95.