Stock Markets In Freefall Ahead Of ‘Liberation Day’

The IT sector was among the hardest hit due to its substantial exposure to the US market, and real estate stocks fell following Maharashtra’s upward revision of readyreckoner rates, which affect property valuations - Vinod Nair, Head (Research), Geojit Investments

Mumbai: Stock markets went into a tailspin on Tuesday with BSE benchmark Sensex plunging by 1,390 points due to selling in IT and private banking shares amid heightened uncertainty ahead of the anticipated rollout of US reciprocal tariffs on April 2 --termed as ‘Liberation Day’ by President Donald Trump.

Starting the new financial year on a losing note, the 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 1,390.41 points or 1.80 per cent to settle at 76,024.51 as 28 of its components ended lower and only two advanced. During the day, the index plummeted 1,502.74 points or 1.94 per cent to 75,912.18. The NSE Nifty dropped 353.65 points or 1.50 per cent to 23,165.70. The key indices logged their steepest single-day losses in a month. US President Donald Trump plans to roll out a set of reciprocal tariffs on April 2, which he says will be ‘Liberation Day’ for the US.

“The IT sector was among the hardest hit due to its substantial exposure to the US market, and real estate stocks fell following Maharashtra’s upward revision of ready reckoner rates, which affect property valuations,” said Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Investments Limited.

The BSE midcap gauge tanked 1.04 per cent, while small-cap index went up marginally by 0.07 per cent.

“Uncertainty surrounding the US reciprocal tariff rates ahead of the April 2 deadline and its potential impact on global trade led to a negative opening, which worsened as the session progressed,” added Ajit Mishra, sr V-P (research), Religare Broking Ltd.

Among BSE sectoral indices, realty slumped the most 3.05 per cent, followed by consumer durables (2.51 per cent), BSE Focused IT (2.42 per cent), IT (2.24 per cent), financial services (1.78 per cent), teck (1.73 per cent) and bankex (1.50 per cent). BSE telecommunication and oil & gas were the gainers.

From the Sensex pack, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Titan, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro, Tech Mahindra and NTPC were among the biggest laggards. Among gainers, IndusInd Bank jumped over 5 per cent while Zomato ended marginally higher. ‘Amid heightened global volatility ahead of the anticipated US reciprocal tariff announcement tomorrow, the domestic market witnessed a significant sell-off today.

In the broader market, shares of Vodafone Idea rose by nearly 19 per cent to close at Rs 8.10 per share as government converted Rs 36,950 crore of dues into equity to take its shareholding in the struggling telco to 49 per cent.