Trump’s trade tirades can’t touch these: Sectors and stocks for a crisis-proof portfolio

US President Donald Trump imposed an additional 25 per cent penalty on India on Wednesday, taking the overall tariff to 50 per cent. However, Indian equities largely remained unfazed after the announcement. Benchmark indices and broader markets scripted a sharp rebound in the fag end of the session, after a sell-off earlier, with Nifty and Sensex trading with mild gains.

Indian stocks showcased a strong resilience over the Trump tariff tussle, but the sentiments remain largest jitters, better say fragile. Investors and traders are looking at the stocks which are largely, if not completely, immune from the tariff threats and Trump tantrums to protect their wealth.

Experts believe that Indian markets are already under pressure Trump is consistently targeting India and fear of unknowing is spooking the traders. The major worrying part is the weakening of the Indian currency due to continuous FII outflow and all the stocks are driven by market sentiments. Investors thus need to focus on domestic themes.

Sunny Agrawal, Head of Fundamental Research at SBI Securities suggests investors to focus on domestic focused businesses like cement, hotels, telecom, new age businesses, EMS players, autos & auto ancillary, hospitals, defence, railways, alcoholic beverages and other domestic themes.

He has suggested M&M, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Indigo, Larsen & Toubro, Amber Enterprises, Indian Hotels, Apollo Hospital, Marico, Radico Khaitan, Ultratech Cement , Ambuja Cement, Bharti Airtel, Shyam Metalics as his top picks.

Kranthi Bathini, Director Equity Strategy at Wealthmills Securities is positive on infrastructure, banks, power healthcare and capital good stocks. He has picked Larsen & Toubro, Cochin Shipyard, Hindustan Aeronautics, Mazagon Dock to name a few. "One can buy good largecap stocks on corrections," he suggested.

However, as a word of caution, Aggarwal has suggested to stay away from US brands focussed domestic franchisees, as clamour to boycott US products and follow swadeshi model may grow and can lead to temporary enhanced selling pressure in companies like Jubilant Foodworks, Westlife Foodworld, Devyani international, Varun Beverages, and Sapphire Foods, RBA and more.

However, some experts suggest that volatility cannot be ruled out from Indian markets and one can expect short-term jitters in the coming session. Market seems to be complacent thinking that India US trade deal may eventually be negotiated to a lower level, said Utsav Verma, Head of Research for Institutional Equities at Choice Broking.

"Our view continues to be lower tariff for India similar to other South East nations but we now expect drawn out timelines unless US-Russia relationship eases. Investors should brace for short-term volatility/risk-off situations," he said.

Adding to the notion, Pranay Aggarwal, Director and CEO at Stoxkart said that Trump tariffs may trigger short-term market volatility, especially in export-oriented sectors like engineering goods, textiles, and jewellery. "Investors should avoid heavily US-dependent stocks and shift focus to domestically driven sectors such as banks, FMCG, infra, and utilities," he said.