Bloodbath on Dalal St Amid Trade War Fears

Investors fear Trump’s reciprocal tariff policy will fuel recession and drive inflation in the US going ahead and engulf other key economies. A sharp fall in metal and oil stocks is indicating that demand could be hit amid slowdown fears

Markets slumped in sync with the crash in global equities with sectors crashing over 2-6% on broad-based selling - Prashanth Tapse, Sr V-P (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks Sensex on Friday slumped over 900 points to crash below the 76,000 level due to an across-the-board sell-off, tracking weak global markets amid growing global trade war fears. Besides, heavy selling in market heavyweights Reliance Industries, L&T and Infosys and a sharp correction in global crude prices, indicating recessionary fears, added to the gloom, analysts said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 930.67 points or 1.22 per cent to settle at 75,364.69. During the day, it plummeted 1,054.81 points or 1.38 per cent to hit an intraday low of 75,240.55. The broader NSE Nifty declined 345.65 points or 1.49 per cent to close at 22,904.45. In the session, the 50-share benchmark gauge 382.2 points or 1.64 per cent to 22,867.90. The market capitalisation (mcap) of BSE-listed firms slumped by Rs9,98,379.46 crore to Rs4,03,34,886.46 crore ($4.73 trn).

“The recent implementation of higher-than-anticipated US tariffs has had a significant impact on global markets, triggering a bearish trend as investors assess the broader implications. The likelihood of retaliatory measures against the US has further heightened uncertainty. US bond yields and oil prices are trending downward, reflecting concerns over potential economic slowdown and increased recessionary risks,” said Vinod Nair, Head (Research), Geojit Investments.

As much as 2,820 stocks declined, 1,126 advanced and 130 remained unchanged on the BSE. During the week, the BSE Sensex tanked 2,050.23 points or 2.64 per cent, while the NSE Nifty declined 614.8 points or 2.61 per cent.

“The sharp fall in global markets - particularly in the US - and fresh concerns over potential tariffs on pharma impacted sentiment negatively. However, sustained strength in banking and financial stocks helped limit the overall downside to some extent. Looking ahead, we anticipate a time-wise correction in the Nifty index,” said Ajit Mishra, Sr V-P (Research), Religare Broking Ltd.

In broader markets, the BSE midcap gauge plunged 3.08 per cent, while smallcap index declined 3.43 per cent.

“Markets slumped in sync with the crash in global equities with sectors crashing over 2-6 per cent on broad-based selling. Investors fear Trump’s reciprocal tariff policy will fuel recession, drive inflation in the US going ahead and engulf other key economies. A sharp fall in metal and oil stocks is indicating that demand could be hit amid slowdown fears,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior V-P (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

All the sectoral indices ended in negative territory. Metal declined 6.34 per cent, followed by capital goods (3.99 per cent), Oil & Gas, Commodities, and Industrials (3.89 per cent each), Energy (3.65 per cent), realty (3.61 per cent), and IT (3.55 per cent). Tata Steel was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, sliding 8.59 per cent, followed by Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro, Adani Ports, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Sun Pharmaceutical, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and NTPC, were the major laggards.