Sensex jumps 1,330 points on trade deal hopes after Trump claims India offered to scrap all tariffs
The Sensex jumped 1300 points after US President Donald Trump claimed India had offered the US a ‘no tariffs’ trade deal
The Sensex on Thursday has jumped 1,300 points after Donald Trump claimed that India had offered the United States a ‘zero-tariffs’ trade deal.
During an event in Qatar, Donald Trump said that the Indian government had offered a deal "where basically they are willing to literally charge us no tariff", Bloomberg quoted him as saying.
The central government has not responded to Trump's claims yet.
Also Read: India's first retaliation against Donald Trump’s tariffs, proposes duties on US goods: Reports
The Nifty 50 rose 1.57 per cent to 25,054.80 and the BSE Sensex gained 1.45 per cent to 82,506.47 as of 3 pm after trading flat in the earlier session. This marks a seven-month high for the benchmark indices in India due to hopes of a trade deal.
Also Read: Donald Trump's advice to Apple CEO Tim Cook: 'Don’t want you building in India'
"There is speculation that the trade deal will happen," Ambareesh Baliga, an independent market analyst told Reuters.
The US President's comments come amid a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs during which New Delhi and Washington have been attempting to finalise a trade deal. Before the pause, Trump had announced a 26 per cent levy on India.
India-US trade deal
India was one of the first countries to begin trade with the US following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the White House in February. India’s trade minister is expected to meet Trump administration officials in the US from May 17-20 for further negotiations on a bilateral trade deal.
Trump’s comments came days after India threatened to impose retaliatory tariffs in response to higher US tariffs on steel and aluminum.
“An India–US trade deal may be on the cards. But the deal must ensure strict reciprocity, with both sides eliminating tariffs equally," Ajay Srivastava, founder of New Delhi-based think tank Global Trade Research Institute told Bloomberg.
