US Tariff Shock Sinks Solar Shares

The US decision to impose 126% tariffs on modules and cells of Indian solar companies rattled the markets on Wednesday. The development dampened investor sentiment, wiping out early gains amid heavy selling pressure. The Sensex closed 50.15 points higher at 82,276.07, while the Nifty ended up 57.85 points at 25,482.5, though the Sensex lost nearly 674 points from the day’s high. Shares of solar companies fell sharply, declining between 5% and 14%.

Meanwhile, the impact of artificial intelligence fears weighed heavily on IT stocks, worrying institutional investors such as LIC and mutual funds. The Nifty IT index has dropped 21% so far this month — its steepest fall in 23 years — leading to losses of about ₹38,000 crore for LIC and ₹63,000 crore for mutual funds. Shares of major IT firms declined between 17% and 27% during the month. With AI firm Anthropic’s market cap reportedly touching $380 billion, Indian IT majors including TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra have seen their combined valuation shrink to about $241 billion.