India First Major Market to Recover April Trump Tariff-Driven Losses

India has become the first major equity market to recoup all losses triggered by the U.S. reciprocal tariff announcement made on April 2. On Tuesday, benchmark indices closed with strong gains, reversing the declines seen over the past two weeks.

Market Movement

On April 15, 2025, the Sensex rose by 1,577.63 points (2.1%) to close at 76,734.89. The Nifty 50 index ended 500 points higher (2.19%) at 23,328.55. This comes after a trading holiday on Monday for Ambedkar Jayanti. Investor wealth rose by ₹10.6 lakh crore during the session.

On the broader market, the BSE recorded 3,266 advancing stocks and 833 declining ones. All sectoral indices ended in the green. Realty, capital goods, industrials, consumer discretionary, and auto sectors rose up to 5.81%. Only two Sensex stocks – HUL and ITC closed in the red. The Nifty 50 had just one stock (ITC) in the negative.

Volatility and Institutional Activity

Market volatility eased, with the India VIX index falling 19.8% to 16.13. This marks the steepest single-day drop in nearly 10 months as per the news reports.

Provisional BSE data showed foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were net buyers, purchasing shares worth ₹6,065.78 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs), however, were net sellers, offloading equities worth ₹1,951.60 crore.

Global Context

While Indian indices bounced back, other Asian markets remained below their April 2 levels. Losses from that date include:

• Singapore: -8.3%
• Hong Kong: -7.5%
• Taiwan: -6.8%
• Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, China: down up to 4.1%
• South Korea, Philippines, Indonesia: down up to 1.1%

Additional Factors

India’s stock market decline in previous weeks was also linked to global risk-off sentiment and reduced growth forecasts. Reports suggest that Indian equities are trading at 18.5 times their 12-month forward earnings, lower than the five-year average of 19.5.

Conclusion

India is the only major market to fully recover its losses from the April 2 tariff announcement, supported by a strong domestic investor base, foreign inflows, and a broad-based market rebound.

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