India’s benchmark indexes are likely to open higher on Thursday, in line with global equities, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s temporary tariff reprieve on automobile imports from Mexico and Canada.
The GIFT Nifty futures were trading at 22,461 as of 07:50 a.m. IST, indicating that the blue-chip Nifty 50 will likely open above Wednesday’s close of 22,337.30.
U.S. President Donald Trump is open to hearing about other products that should be exempted from the tariffs, which took effect Tuesday, the White House said.
Asian stocks gained in early trade on hopes that Trump could walk back on some tariff measures, with the MSCI Asia ex Japan adding 1%.
Back home, Nifty 50 logged its biggest daily gains on Wednesday, a day after posting its longest-ever losing streak.
“As the recovery remains fragile due to global uncertainty and FPIs show no signs of halting the sell-off trend, (the) market could remain volatile,” said Prashanth Tapse, senior VP (research) at Mehta Equities.
Domestic investors drove the strong recovery on Wednesday after foreign investors sold 28.95 billion rupees ($333.2 million), per provisional data.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have sold Indian shares worth more than $27 billion since September 2024, pushing Nifty 50 down 15% from its record high as concerns loom over tariffs and slowing earnings growth momentum.
Trump has threatened to impose reciprocal tariffs on several countries, including India, on April 2, and has called India a high-tariff nation on a few occasions.
