July 8 (Reuters) - India's benchmark shares are likely to open muted on Tuesday due to uncertainty over U.S. trade policies, as President Donald Trump announced steep import tariffs on several trading partners while signalling that a deal with India was close.
The Gift Nifty futures GIFc1 were trading at 25,495.5 points as of 8:06 a.m. IST, indicating that the Nifty 50 .NSEI will open near its previous close of 25,461.3.
Trump on Monday began telling trade partners that the higher U.S. tariffs will start August 1, marking a new phase in the trade war he launched earlier this year. Trump, who announced a 25% levy on key Asian allies Japan and South Korea, added that U.S. was close to striking a deal with India.
Tariffs are expected to increase prices and slow growth, although uncertainty over the ultimate policies may be a bigger drag as it leads businesses to postpone decisions.
Wall Street slid, with the S&P 500 Index .SPX logging its biggest drop in three weeks. Asian markets were mixed on the day, with MSCI's broadest index for Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS down 0.1%. MKTS/GLOB
Trump in April capped all of the so-called reciprocal tariffs with trading partners at 10% until July 9 to allow for negotiations. Only two agreements, with Britain and Vietnam, have been reached so far.
India's benchmark indexes Nifty and Sensex ended little changed on Monday, as gains in consumer stocks, led by Godrej Consumer, offset broader market losses, while investor caution lingered. The Nifty and Sensex remain about 3% below their record highs hit on Sept. 27, 2024.
STOCKS TO WATCH
** Titan Company TITN.NS posts 19% increase in domestic sales in first quarter led by higher gold prices, outpacing the 9.3% growth from a year ago
** Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS says its net advances as on June 30 rose 14% year-on-year, while total deposit average was up 12.9%
** Tata Motors TAMO.NS Britih subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover reports a 10.7% drop in first-quarter sales, hit by a temporary pause in shipments to the U.S and a wind-down of the Jaguar brand's legacy models
(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
((VivekKumar.M@thomsonreuters.com;))
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