Sensex falls by 319 points amid weak global trends on trade war fears

Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed lower Monday tracking weak global markets amid concerns over US President Donald Trump imposing tariffs on some of its trading partners.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 319.22 points or 0.41 per cent to settle at 77,186.74, snapping its five-day rally. Intra-day, it tumbled 749.87 points or 0.96 per cent to 76,756.09.

The NSE Nifty declined 121.10 points or 0.52 per cent to 23,361.05.

From Sensex shares, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, ITC, Power Grid, NTPC and Reliance Industries were the major laggards.

Among the gainers, Bajaj Finance jumped over 5 per cent. Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel and Maruti also ended higher.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled sharply lower.

Markets in Europe were trading with deep cuts. US markets ended lower Friday.

“Slump in global equity markets weighed negatively on Indian benchmarks after Trump announced tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada which fuelled pessimism amongst the investors. Besides, the rupee depreciating sharply raised concerns that foreign investors are unlikely to reverse the selling trend,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

The 25 per cent tariff on most imports from Canada and Mexico and 10 per cent tariff on goods from China will take effect from Tuesday.

“The global market got unsettled amid the onset of the ‘Trade War,’ as tariff conflicts between the US and other nations are unlikely to yield any economic benefits. Instead, it may cause challenges to the global economy, heightening global financial risks,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 1.15 per cent to USD 76.50 a barrel.

In a day market with heavy volatility, the 30-share BSE benchmark eked out a marginal gain of 5.39 points or 0.01 per cent to settle at 77,505.96 Saturday.

The Nifty dipped 26.25 points or 0.11 per cent to settle at 23,482.15. The domestic equity markets were open on Saturday due to the presentation of the Union Budget.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,327.09 crore Saturday, according to exchange data.