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Indian equity benchmarks fall as Reliance and metals losses outpace consumer growth

India's equity benchmarks dipped on Wednesday, as Reliance Industries losses and metals outweighed gains in consumer stocks. Investors remained on hold amid uncertainty surrounding U.S. trade tariffs.

The Nifty 50 dropped 0.18% to 25,476.1, while the BSE Sensex fell 0.21% to 83 536.08.

The mid-caps fell 0.1%, while the small-caps gained 0.6%.

Reliance Industries, a heavyweight in the Nifty 50, fell by 1.2% following reports that its telecom arm Reliance Jio Platforms will not launch a stock offering this year, as planned. This delayed one of India's biggest anticipated stock offerings.

On Tuesday, U.S. president Donald Trump announced that he will impose a tariff of 50% on imported copper. He also said he will implement the long-promised levies against semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.

Trump said that the U.S. would "pretty quickly" impose a 10% duty on imports coming from BRICS countries, putting India in the firing line.

However, the president's remarks did not affect domestic markets, apart from a 3,3% drop in Hindustan Copper. After Trump's tariff threat, the stock price of copper fell.

The surprise factor regarding tariffs is over. Investors do not feel that this situation requires immediate action," stated U.R. Bhat, cofounder of Alphaniti Fintech.

Metals fell 1.4% due to losses at Vedanta Steel and Tata Steel.

Vedanta dropped 3.4% after Viceroy Research announced that it had taken a short-position against Vedanta Resource, the UK parent company of the Indian miner. Viceroy Research said that the British company is "systematically draining its Indian unit".

Tata Steel fell 1.8% after reporting weak volumes in the first quarter.

FMCG stocks led sectoral gains with a 0.8% increase. Hindustan Unilever, Varun Beverages and Jefferies' "contrarian picks" in India's consumer goods sector were the main drivers of this rise.

It said: "We see a limited downside, but a meaningful up side in the event of (a turnaround)."

Varun Beverages and Hindustan Unilever both rose by 1.7%.

(source: Reuters)