Despite being stunned by news of imposition of one of the highest tariffs by the US, the Indian stock markets braced the shock well and made a comeback on Thursday, closing higher.
Most of the gains happened in the last hour of trade, mainly due to buying.
The 30-share BSE Sensex edged higher by 79.27 points or 0.10 per cent to settle at 80,623.26. The index had traded in the red for most of the session and hit a low of 79,811.29 during the day. However, fag-end buying helped recover losses and touch a high of 80,737.55.
The 50-share NSE Nifty went up by 21.95 points or 0.09 per cent to 24,596.15.
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The latest announcement by US President Donald Trump translates into a tariff hike of 50 per cent on Indian goods, the only other country to face such high tariffs being Brazil.
Trump said his decision was fueled by ire over India’s continued buying of Russia crude, an act, said the President, that can be viewed as an indirect funding of the Ukraine war.
The high tariffs, which may be levied from August 27, will hit sectors such as textiles, marine and leather exports. India, meanwhile, has slammed the action, calling it as "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable".
Among Sensex firms, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Eternal, Axis Bank, Maruti, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank and Asian Paints were the gainers.
However, Adani Ports, Trent, Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever and NTPC were among the laggards.
Most of Asian markets ended in the green, including South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng.
Markets in Europe had recorded mostly gains, as did the US markets, which ended higher on Wednesday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹4,999.10 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.72 per cent to USD 67.37 a barrel.
On Wednesday, the Sensex fell 166.26 points or 0.21 per cent to settle at 80,543.99. The Nifty dipped 75.35 points or 0.31 per cent to close at 24,574.20.
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