By Bharath Rajeswaran
(Reuters) -India’s equity benchmarks fell for a second straight session on Tuesday dragged by financial stocks, though they outperformed most Asian peers as U.S.-China trade tensions dampened risk appetite.
The Nifty 50 fell 0.32% to 25,145.5, while the BSE Sensex lost 0.36% to 82,029.98.
Both benchmarks lost about 0.6% each in two sessions, compared to other Asian peers’ 1.9% drop after U.S. issued fresh tariff threats against China on Friday.
While the U.S. has struck a softer tone since then, Asian markets extended losses.
“In contrast to other Asian markets, India has held up relatively well amid the latest wave of tariff uncertainty,” said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president of retail equities at SMC Global.
“Optimism over an earnings rebound in the second half of the fiscal year, driven by government tax cuts and supportive monetary policy, has helped cushion the impact. Still, markets will likely stay in consolidation mode until there’s clear evidence of that earnings recovery,” he added.
Ahead of the marginal losses in this week, the benchmarks logged their best week in three months on Friday.
The broader small-caps and mid-caps fell about 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively.
All 16 major sectors declined. Financials and banks fell about 0.2% each, while private lenders and state-owned banks lost 0.3% and 1.5%, respectively. The indexes retreated after three sessions of gains on profit booking.
Among stocks, LG Electronics India, which is not part of the benchmarks, listed at a whopping 50% premium over its issue price, making it the best stock market debut for a billion-dollar IPO since Eternal in 2021. The stock closed 48.2% higher.
The $1.3-billion maiden share sale by the company last week became the most subscribed billion-dollar IPO in nearly two decades.
Wealth management firm Anand Rathi Wealth surged 7.8% on posting rise in the September quarter profit.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Sonia Cheema and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
