India’s stock benchmarks fall most in over 4 months on renewed US tariff jitters

India’s benchmark shares logged their steepest one-day fall in over four months on Thursday, dragged by heavyweight Reliance Industries, as uncertainty over U.S. tariffs spurred broad selling.

The Nifty 50 fell 1.01% to 25,876.85 and the Sensex lost 0.92% to 84,180.96. The indexes have lost 1.7% and 1.8%, respectively, this week.

All 16 major sectors fell on the day. The broader small-caps and mid-caps slipped 2% each.

The Indian rupee ended lower on Thursday on tariff woes and persistent outflows, which overpowered a fresh and surprise intervention by the central bank.

Foreign investors have offloaded shares worth $900 million so far in January, following record sales worth $19 billion in 2025.

The markets are not comfortable with the uncertainty over tariffs, said Anita Gandhi, head of institutional business at Arihant Capital Markets.

U.S. President Donald Trump is mulling imposing tariffs of up to 500% on countries buying oil from Russia, and had warned India of higher tariffs over the matter.

The U.S. has already imposed tariffs of up to 50% on goods from India, the world’s second-largest buyer of Russian crude, while New Delhi seeks to finalise a long-awaited trade deal with Washington.

Exports-oriented apparel makers Gokaldas Exports and Pearl Global tumbled 8.5% and 7.9%, respectively. Seafood exporters Avanti Feeds and Apex Frozen dropped 8.6% and 7.8%, respectively.

Metal shares declined 3.4%, their biggest single-day drop in nine months, as the global metals rally lost steam. The sub-index had hit a record high on Tuesday.

Oil and gas stocks fell 2.8%, their worst session in nine months, as investors assessed Trump’s plan to import Venezuelan crude. Reliance Industries lost 2.2%.

The IT index fell 2%, pulling back after gains of 2.4% in the last two sessions.

Capital goods firms Larsen and Toubro and BHEL, which have a significant share of government projects, lost 3.1% and 10.5%. India’s finance ministry has planned to scrap five-year old curbs on Chinese firms bidding for government contracts, Reuters reported, citing sources.