Indian equity benchmarks plunged sharply lower on Tuesday, weighed down by heavy selling in IT stocks amid rising global concerns over AI-related disruptions. Markets made a gap-down opening and remained under pressure throughout the session as traders were cautious following U.S. President Donald Trump’d statement that any countries that want to play games after the court's tariff ruling would be hit with a much higher tariff. 

Some of the important factors in trade:

Govt halves rate of duty benefits under RoDTEP scheme for exporters: Sentiments remained downbeat as the government halved the rate of duty benefits under the export support scheme, the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP), prompting the exporting community to seek a reconsideration of the decision. 

New CPI series to reflect Indian households' consumption patterns, reduce volatility: Traders overlooked Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra’s statement that the new CPI inflation series based on 2024 prices will better reflect Indian households' consumption patterns and reduce volatility.

India-France amend tax treaty: India and France have amended the double taxation avoidance agreement which will provide full taxing rights in respect of capital gains to the nation where such company is a resident and delete the Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) Clause bringing in certainty in taxation. 

On the global front: European equity markets were trading mostly in red as investors stayed cautious over Iran tensions, tariff worries and growth concerns. Investors now await U.S. President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech to Congress for direction. Asian markets ended mostly in green despite tariff related uncertainty.

The BSE Sensex ended at 82225.92, down by 1068.74 points or 1.28% after trading in a range of 81934.73 and 83079.51. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.05%, Metal up by 0.99%, Utilities up by 0.90%, Oil & Gas up by 0.68% and Energy up by 0.60%, while IT down by 4.53%, TECK down by 3.82%, Realty down by 2.61%, Telecom down by 1.79%, Consumer Discretionary down by 1.12% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 2.12%, Hindustan Unilever up by 0.90%, Power Grid Corp up by 0.64%, Tata Steel up by 0.62% and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone up by 0.35%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 6.32%, HCL Technologies down by 5.79%, Eternal down by 5.04%, Infosys down by 3.58% and TCS down by 3.51% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman A Sakthivel has said that India's apparel exports have shown modest growth of 1.6 per cent to reach $13,129.1 million during April-January 2025-26 as compared to the corresponding period of the previous financial year. He said this modest growth occurred despite geopolitical uncertainties and supply chain challenges. He noted that exports to several key markets also showed impressive performances, including Italy (16 per cent), the UK (4.8 per cent), UAE (10.6 per cent), Saudi Arabia (18.5 per cent), Germany (8.7 per cent), and Spain (7.1 per cent). Strong performance has also been recorded in Japan, Iceland, and Australia. 

AEPC Chairman said over the years, the council has consistently taken up industry concerns with the government and relevant stakeholders to promote, protect, and safeguard the interests of the ready-made garment (RMG) sector. He added that the government's key initiatives such as PM MITRA Parks, Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, Mega Textile Parks, the Export Promotion Mission, and the SAMARTH skilling programme, will surely accelerate growth of the sector.

He further said additional support measures such as promoting extra-long staple cotton cultivation, enhancing ease of doing business, improving credit access for MSMEs through expanded credit guarantee coverage, and establishing national centres of excellence for skilling also expected to provide significant momentum to the industry. Looking ahead, he said the council has planned to promote the global reach of Indian apparel exports by diversification of markets to newer and non-traditional markets through its export promotion activities in 2026-27.

The CNX Nifty ended at 25424.65, down by 288.35 points or 1.12% after trading in a range of 25327.60 and 25641.80. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 1.94%, JSW Steel up by 1.27%, Coal India up by 1.16%, Hindalco up by 0.73% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.56%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 6.17%, HCL Technologies down by 6.10%, Eternal down by 5.17%, TCS down by 3.83% and Infosys down by 3.55% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 22.19 points or 0.21% to 10,662.55 and France’s CAC fell 3.17 points or 0.04% to 8,494.00, while Germany’s DAX gained 1.63 points or 0.01% to 24,993.60.