NEWS POINT | PAGE 22 ECONOMY | PAGE 8 STThike on F&O aimed at curbing 'satta' trade: FM INTERNATIONAL | PAGE 12 Signalling a new scale for Indian storytelling LUCKNOW, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2026 DisneytapsJoshD'Amaroas CEOtoleadpost-Igerera FOLLOW US ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK. APP AVAILABLE ON APP STORE & PLAYSTORE WWW.FINANCIALEXPRESS.COM READ TO LEAD VOL 19 NO. 52, 50 PAGES, `12 P U B L I S H E D F R O M : A H M E D A B A D , B E N G A L U R U , C H A N D I G A R H , C H E N N A I , H Y D E R A B A D , K O C H I , K O L K ATA , L U C K N O W, M U M B A I , N E W D E L H I , P U N E SENSEX: 83,739.13 ▲ 2072.67 NIFTY: 25,727.55 ▲ 639.15 NIKKEI 225: 54,720.66 ▲ 2065.48 HANG SENG: 26,834.77 ▲ 59.20 `/$: 90.27 ▼ 1.24 `/€: 106.45 ▼ 2.11 BRENT: $66.79 ▲ $0.49 GOLD: `151,858 ▲ `3980 MAKING MARKETS GREAT AGAIN US tariff cut lifts indices byover 2.5% Continued on Page 8 Feb 2 (close) 81,666 duringtheday–thefourth highestever ■ Barringtwostocksfrom SensexandfourfromNifty50,all indexconstituentsendedthe sessionhigher ■ RelianceIndustries,HDFC Bank,ICICIBank,SBIandL&T togethercontributednearly 50%oftheSensex’s totalgains THE SUPREME COURT onTuesday pulled up Meta and WhatsApp while hearing their appeals against an antitrust panel order imposing a penalty of `213.14 crore over the privacy policy, saying tech giants cannot "play with the right to privacy of citizens in the name of data sharing", reports PTI. ■ PAGE 9 IndiGo, AI planes scrape wings at Mumbai airport THE WINGS OF Air India and IndiGo brushed each other at Mumbai airport on Tuesday. As per reports, the IndiGo flight was taxiing after landing. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has launched a probe into the incident. 2,073 16.15 13.79 13.23 12.1 May 12, Jun 03, Jun 05, Feb 03, May 17, 2025 2024 2024 2026 2022 Top Sensex gainers % gain AdaniPorts Bajaj Finance IndiGo Power Grid Sun Pharma 9.12 6.68 5.51 4.85 4.54 83,739 2.54% (2,072 points) Re logs best single-day gain since Dec 2018 RIDING THE WAVE CHRISTINATITUS Mumbai, February 3 THE RUPEE BOUNCED back sharply on Tuesday following US President DonaldTrump’s announcement on Monday reducing reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods to 18%. The domestic currency rose 1.36% to 90.27 against the dollar. This is the best single-day gain since December2018. “We have long argued the trade deal would be a gamechanger.The rupee at 92 was more than what your fundamentalswarranted and itwas purely sentiment-led overshooting,” said Kanika Pasricha,chief economic adviser, Union Bank of India. She added that the trade deal has now put a lid on that overshoot, and the rupee has returnedtothe90level.“Overall, this is great news for the currencymarket,” she said. 84 Inverted scale 86 88 90.27 87.20 1.36 Malaysian Ringgit 0.34 90 Indonesian Rupiah 0.18 92 94 % change on Feb 3 Indian Rupee Taiwanese Dollar 0.12 Feb 03, 2025 Feb 03, 2026 Source: Bloomberg According to Nomura,the positivity from the US-India trade deal announcement is likely to provide some shortlived support for rupee. The RBI FX reserve accumulation, theUSproductpurchasesand global risk markets will likely South Korean Won 0.12 continue toweigh on the currency.Portfolioinflowsmaybe short-lived,aswewereobservingarotationoutofIndiaeven before Trump’s tariffs on India,it said. Continued on Page 8 MUKESH JAGOTA New Delhi, February 3 World tilting towards India: PM CALLING THE INDIA-US trade agreement “a historic turning point,” Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said it would unleash tremendous opportunities for the Indian industry, especially the small and medium enterprises and labour-intensive units. “The agreement protects the interests of our agriculture and dairy sectors in full respect, while opening up huge opportunities for the labour-intensive sectors,” he said, discounting fears that some compromises might have been made with respect to these sensitive areas. “This is the best deal India has received. It is a deal for all of us,bringing positive signals forthe bright future of ourcitizens," Goyal said. The slashing of the additional US tariff from 50% to It (deal) is a“big decision that will benefit a large section of people in the country” 18%, which would put India at a relative advantage over key Asian competitors, would take effect immediately after a joint statement is issued by both sides in 2-3 days, the minister said. This is even as implementation of the full agreement would take some more time, as the legal texts GREY AREA India is at the global centre stage,shaping a neworder,and that“theworld is tilting towards India” are required to be ratified. The tariff cut under the deal might take India's economic growth in 2026–27 closer to 7.4%, the estimated level for the current year, Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran said. Continued on Page 8 Dealdone,butuncertainties linger;expertsawaitfineprint FPI mood likely to improve Asia’s top performer ‘Bestdeal’protects agriinterests:Goyal FE BUREAU New Delhi, February 3 12.06 Feb 3 (close) IN THE NEWS SC pulls up Meta, WhatsApp over user data sharing (in ` lakh crore) Feb 03, 2026 lakhcrore 2,476 `12.11 Top 5 market cap gains 2,111 In points (closing) 2,303 ■ Investorwealthroseby 2,315 Top Sensex gains 2,507 Sensex 2,975 US PRESIDENT DONALD Trumpwants to MakeAmerica Great Again, but late Monday night, he ended up making at least the Indian stock markets great again. Dalal Street broke into a celebratory rally on Tuesday after a surprise, nearsimultaneous social media announcement by Trump and PrimeMinisterNarendraModi that India and the US have arrived at a broad consensus on a long-awaited bilateral trade deal that reduces tariffs on India from 50% to 18%. While the fine print is still awaited,themarketdidn’twait around fordetails.Benchmark indices surged more than 2.5%, catapulting investor wealth by `12.11 lakh crore — the fourth-highest single-day addition on record. The Sensex jumped 2,072 points to close at 83,739, while the Nifty soared 639 points to end at 25,727.Intraday, the fireworks were »INSIDE« even bigger: EDIT: A the Sensex and breakthrough Nifty touched moment gains of 4,205 PAGE 10 points and 1,252 points respectively — the largest single-day point gains ever. The rallywas broad-based. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rose 2.57% and 3.42%, marking their best single-day performance in nine months. Summing up the mood, Nilesh Shah, MD, Kotak Mutual Fund, quipped: “The India-US FTAdeal is like a Bollywood movie. After all the twists and turns, it has a happy ending.” But he also struck a note of caution. “The real work begins now — details need to be ironed out and India Inc must capitalise on the opportunity. Tuesday’s reaction was driven largely by short covering and FOMO,” Shah said. That assessment found support in derivatives data from the National Stock Exchange. Short-sellers were caught off guard on the expiry session as option premiums exploded. WINDFALL FOR INVESTORS May 12, 2025 Jun 03, 2024 Apr 07, 2020 Feb 01, 2021 Jun 05, 2024 May 18, 2009 KISHOR KADAM & JOYDEEP GHOSH Mumbai, February 3 INDIAINDUSTRIALTARIFFSTOGODOWNTONIL:USTR THE US-INDIA TRADE deal announcement lifted FPIs moodsignificantlyonTuesday, reports Anjana Therese Antony. However, experts said that their net purchase of over `5,000 crore should be seen more as a reaction to the positive development ratherthan a change in stance. ■ PAGE 6 Bond rally runs into supplywall GOVERNMENT BONDS ROSE after the US–India trade-pact sparked fresh buying,but gains werecappedasthenewscreated arareopportunityforprofit-taking in a supply-heavy market, reportsReuters.Thebenchmark yield fell 4 basis points to 6.72 duringTuesday. ■ PAGE 6 WHILE THE FRUITION of the much-awaited India-US trade deal has lifted sentiments across markets and business circles, a great deal of anxiety still persisted due to scant details of the agreement & a lack of homogeneity between thestatementsmadebytheUS side and what officials indicated here. Announcing the deal on Monday, US President Donald Trump claimed that India agreed to reduce trade barriers to‘zero’and‘stop’buyingRussian oil. He also said New Delhi Deal may add 30 bps to GDP THE SHARP REDUCTION in US tariffs from 50% to 18% on Indian goods, the lowest compared to South East Asian countries and China, may add 20-30 basis points to GDP growth in FY27, offering support amid global uncertainties, reports fe Bureau. ■ P3 ■ A blanket reduction of India's tariffs to zero is clearly implausible given its domestic vulnerabilities ■ US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in that the deal would ensure more shipments of American farm products to ‘India's massive market' ■ Experts reckon that New Delhi might have agreed to provide concessionalduty import quotas for certain US agricultural products, such as maize, cotton, soyabean, etc pledgedtopurchasemorethan $500 billion worth of American goods, such as energy, technology, agriculture and coalproducts,withoutspecifying a timeframe for this but sources said it is for five years. India currently imports less than $50 billion a year from the US. » INSIDE, P10 « RahulsaysPM underpressure IT’S NOTTHE END OFTHE STORY, WRITES AMITENDU PALIT AQUESTION MARK ON CONCESSIONS, WRITES ABHIJITDAS Continued on Page 8 CONGRESS LEADER AND the leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi buckled under US pressure to finalise a trade deal and “sold off” the hard work of Indian farmers through the agreement, reports PTI. ■ P2 NoelTata’s son was appointed to the board of Sir DorabjiTataTrust in November last year SRTTboardtomeetonFeb15toappointNevilleTata URVI MALVANIA Mumbai, February 3 THE BOARD OF the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) is set to meet on February 15 to discuss and approve the appointment of Neville Tata as a trustee, those in the know said. This will be the third time the board will convene to discuss the matter. On two previous occasions,the proposal to appoint Neville, Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata’s son, to the board of SRTT failed to be passed. In November last year, the proposal could not be approved when Venu Srinivasan, who serves on the board of SRTT and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust as vice-chairman, reportedly raised objection to the way in which the item was listed on the agenda. Those close to the matter said that Srinivasan objected CURRENT COMPOSITION OF SIR RATAN TATA TRUST Noel N Tata, chairman Venu Srinivasan, vice-chairman ■ This is the third time when the board of Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) has been convened to discuss the matter raising compliance concerns since the matter was listed as a secondary item when it should have been listed as a Vijay Singh ■ In Nov last year, the proposal could not be approved when Venu Srinivasan reportedly raised an objection main agenda item. The matter was then supposed to be taken up in a board meeting scheduled for Jimmy N Tata Jehangir HC Jehangir Darius Khambhata ■ Together SRTT and SDTT are the key trusts that constitute the philanthropic body Tata Trusts ■ Tata Trusts in turn holds a 66% stake in Tata Sons, the corporate entity that holds the Tata Group companies January 17. However, due to reasons hitherto undisclosed, the meeting was cancelled, even when other Trust meet- ings took place as planned. Once again,Neville’s appointment remained in a limbo. Together SRTT and SDTT are the key trusts that constitute the philanthropic body Tata Trusts. Tata Trusts in turn holds 66% stake in Tata Sons, the corporate entity that holds the Tata Group companies. The meeting on February 15 comes on the heels of reports that SDTT trustee Pramit Jhaveri has asked Noel Tata that he be excused from consideration for reappointment when his term as a trustee ends on February 11. Jhaveri, former Citibank chief executive, wrote to the chairman of the Trusts expressing his wish on January 31. Jhaveri’s exit from Tata Trusts will add to the ongoing shuffle currently observed on both SDTT and SRTT boards. All through last year, murmurs of rising strife amongst the trustees grew louder,with tensions coming to a head when Mehli Mistry, former Tata Trusts trustee, opposed the nomination ofVijay Singh to the board of Tata Sons. This was followed by a what observers perceive to be a power struggle between the ‘new guard’ led by Noel Tata, who took over the role of chairman after Ratan Tata’s passing in 2024, and the ‘old guard’, led by Mistry. After weeks of strife, extensively documented by the media, Mistry stepped down from his duties as a trustee. At the time of the reported power struggle, Jhaveri was considered to have sided with Mistry. The appointment of Neville to the SRTT board is largely being seen as a consolidation of Noel Tata’s leadership within the Trusts ranks. Neville, along with former Titan managing director Bhaskar Bhat, was appointed to the board of SDTT in November last year.