Domestic stock market under pressure: Sensex, Nifty tank 0.7%

This is the fourth consecutive session when the equity benchmark indices have declined. In the last four trading sessions, the Sensex fell 1.62 per cent, or 1,272.01 points, and the Nifty declined 1.51 per cent, or 357.65 points.

“The US tariff threats continued to impact the market sentiment. Domestic yield is inching higher as investors stay cautious on riskier assets and navigate their investments to safe haven assets like gold. On the earnings front, the companies are facing downgrades in estimates due to a weak demand environment, margin pressure, and a cautious near-term outlook,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

US President Donald Trump on Monday said he will introduce 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports to the US.

“The US tariffs on steel will increase competition and exacerbate oversupply at other steel producing markets. Indian steel producers will face increased challenges in exporting their products. Over the past 12 months, high steel imports into India have already dampened prices and earnings of steel producers in India,” said Hui Ting Sim, AVP, Moody’s Ratings, based in Singapore.

The news affected stocks of metal companies, with the Nifty Metal index falling 2.64 per cent.

Gold witnessed strong gains on Monday, surging above Rs 85,800 per 10 gram in MCX and hitting $2,900 in spot market as Trump’s new round of tariffs on metal products intensified trade war concerns.

“With the rupee showing no signs of cooling off, foreign investors have continued to take the exit route in order to invest in safe haven US financial assets, thus weighing heavily on market sentiment,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

In the current month (till February 7), foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have offloaded Rs 7342 crore of domestic stocks. So far in 2025, overseas investors have net sold Rs 85,369 crore worth of local shares, according to the National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) data.

With valuations remaining expensive, mid and small cap stocks continued to face selling pressure on Monday. BSE SmallCap and BSE MidCap declined 2.25 per cent and 2.06 per cent, respectively. BSE LargeCap index fell 0.98 per cent.

Analysts said the markets would now focus on the upcoming domestic economic data – consumer price index (CPI) and index of industrial production (IIP) – to be released this week for further cues.