Gift Nifty indicates a flat to positive start for the Indian market; US Market closed lower; Asian markets opened higher

Gift Nifty indicates a flat to positive start for the broader index in India, with a loss of 18.5 points or 0.07 percent. The Nifty futures were trading around 25,497.50 level.

Wall Street’s major indexes closed sharply lower on Monday, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced hefty tariffs against Japan, South Korea, and other trading partners. Meanwhile, Tesla shares sank after CEO Elon Musk announced he was forming a new U.S. political party.

Indexes added to losses after Trump announced the tariff rates against Japanese and South Korean imports, which are set to take effect on August 1. Stocks wobbled further in the late afternoon when he announced hefty tariffs on Malaysia, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Laos, and Myanmar.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 422.17 points, or 0.94%, to 44,406.36, the S&P 500 lost 49.37 points, or 0.79%, to 6,229.98 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 188.59 points, or 0.91%, to 20,412.52.

Asian shares edged higher as President Donald Trump left the door open for additional negotiations after imposing new tariff rates on partners including Japan and South Korea.

Japan’s Nikkei, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, and the KOSPI index went up 0.31, 0.68 and 1.10 percent respectively.