Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty faced volatile trends in early trade on Friday as uninterrupted foreign fund outflows and uncertainties over global trade war dampened investors' sentiment.
After two days of breather, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex declined 243.51 points or 0.33 per cent to 74,096.58 in the morning trade. The NSE Nifty dipped 53.35 points or 0.24 per cent to 22,491.35.
From the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Zomato, Power Grid, ICICI Bank, Infosys, ITC, Hindustan Unilever and Bharti Airtel were among the laggards.
On the other hand, Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Adani Ports, Larsen & Toubro, and Axis Bank were the gainers.
"Trump dilly dallying on tariffs with the latest decision to postpone imposition of tariffs on Canada and Mexico to April 2nd is being viewed by markets seriously. Markets feel that Trump is keen to negotiate deals rather than stick to high tariffs for the long term," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.
In Asian markets, Tokyo and Seoul were trading lower, while Shanghai was flat. Hong Kong stock markets was quoting in the positive zone.
US markets ended lower in overnight deals on Thursday.
According to Vijayakumar, this acknowledgement of the fact that high tariffs for long term will impact the US economy, too. The sell-off in the US stock markets also is an indication that Trump's policies might impact growth and earnings in the US.
"China and Germany are implementing reforms to stimulate their domestic economies from Trump's policies. This change in the global construct can impact stock markets. The dollar index is steadily softening; this is good news for India.
"India's growth is recovering and stock market valuations are fair now. Despite FII selling exceeding DII buying, the market is moving up indicating increasing retail, HNI and UHNI buying. This trend can continue," he said.
Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,377.32 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,617.80 crore on net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude edged up by 0.07 per cent to USD 69.51 a barrel.
Traders are closely watching the US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's commentary and the central bank's balance sheet to be released later on Friday.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said he has postponed 25 per cent tariffs on most goods from Mexico for a month after a conversation with that country's president. The announcement came after his Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said tariffs on both Canada and Mexico would "likely" be delayed.
On Thursday, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 609.86 points to settle at 74,340.09, marking its second straight day of gains. The broader Nifty of NSE advanced 207.40 points to close at 22,544.70.