Mumbai - Indian stocks fell at the open of trading on Monday, with the benchmark Nifty index down more than three percent. US President Donald Trump slapped a flat 26 percent tariff on imports from India last week, with New Delhi saying it was examining both "implications" and "opportunities" from the duty hikes.
The Nifty 50 -- which presents the largest Indian companies on the national stock exchange -- was down 3.55 percent. The Nifty IT, the country's powerful information technology companies, and who have the United States as their single biggest market, was down 5.53 percent. The Times of India called the stock slump a "bloodbath".
After the tariffs were announced, India's Department of Commerce said it was "carefully examining the implications of the various measures", stating that it was "also studying the opportunities that may arise due to this new development".
India's pharmaceutical sector, which exported more than $8 billion of products to the United States in the 2024 fiscal year, emerged unscathed -- with drugs exempt from its reciprocal tariff move.
Trump, speaking while unveiling the tariffs, said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a "great friend" but that he had not been "treating us right".
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