Investors Lose ₹7.46 Lakh Crore Amid Tariff Concerns

In the early morning trade on February 28, investors lost their wealth by ₹7.46 lakh crore amid steep decline in Indian benchmark indices. Sensex plunged over 1000 points following a bearish trend in global equities.

The downturn in today’s trading session can be attributed to proposed global tariff wars and heightened FII outflows.

The 30-share index fell by 1,032.99 points or 1.38 per cent to 73,579.44 during morning trade. Market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms declined by ₹7,46,647.62 crore to ₹ 3,85,63,562.91 crore (USD 4.42 trillion) in morning trade.

Shares of Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, Maruti, HCL Tech, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra and Titan took a heavy blow, while Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and Adani Ports were the major gainers.

Among the Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong traded with deep cuts.

Vikas Jain, Head of Research at Reliance Securities, said, “The US market fell, closing at a five-month low, while US Treasury yields rose following President Donald Trump's new tariff threats.”

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said, “Stock markets dislike uncertainty, and uncertainty has been on the rise ever since Trump was elected the US president. The spate of tariff announcements by Trump has been impacting markets and the latest announcement of additional 10 per cent tariff on China is a confirmation of the market view that Trump will use the initial months of his presidency to threaten countries with tariffs and then negotiate for a settlement favourable to the US.”

“How China responds to the latest round of tariffs remains to be seen,” Vijayakumar said.

FII sold Indian equities worth ₹556.56 crore on February 28, exchange data said.

Brent crude dipped 0.51% to USD 73.66 a barrel.