Sensex plunges 1,018 pts as US tariffs fan trade war fears; stocks down for 5th day

Benchmark Sensex plunged by 1,018 points to settle a two-week low while Nifty cracked below 23,100 on Tuesday due to across-the-board selling, unabated foreign fund outflows and fresh US tariffs reigniting trade war fears.

Declining for the fifth day running, the 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 1,018.20 points or 1.32 per cent to settle at 76,293.60. During the day, it tumbled 1,281.21 points or 1.65 per cent to 76,030.59.

The NSE Nifty cracked 309.80 points or 1.32 per cent to 23,071.80 with 44 of its constituents closing lower and six with gains.

Realty, industrials, consumer discretionary and capital goods sector shares were major losers as the US confirmed fresh 25 per cent duties on all steel and aluminium imports.

The European Union leaders also vowed a “firm” response to US tariffs, fanning fears of trade war.

Among 30 Sensex shares, Zomato tanked over 5 per cent. Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Motors, Power Grid, Larsen & Toubro, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hindustan Unilever and ITC were the biggest laggards. Bharti Airtel was the only gainer among Sensex scrips.

In the past five days, the BSE bellwether gauge has slumped 2,290.21 points or 2.91 per cent, while the Nifty tanked 667.45 points or 2.81 per cent. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,463.72 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

"The ongoing uncertainty surrounding US trade policies and tariffs, coupled with domestic economic growth concerns and persistent selling by FIIs, is dampening market sentiment. The mid and smallcap stocks experienced significant declines due to demand concerns and higher valuations," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

The BSE smallcap gauge plunged 3.40 per cent and midcap index tumbled 2.88 per cent. All BSE sectoral indices ended lower. Realty tanked 3.14 per cent, industrials (2.87 per cent), consumer discretionary (2.73 per cent), capital goods (2.59 per cent), auto (2.49 per cent) and metal (2.23 per cent).

As many as 3,478 stocks declined while 525 advanced and 94 remained unchanged on the BSE. In Asian markets, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower while Seoul ended higher.

European markets were trading mostly lower. US markets ended in positive territory on Monday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.15 per cent to USD 76.74 a barrel.

The Sensex dropped 548.39 points or 0.70 per cent to settle at a week's low of 77,311.80 on Monday. The Nifty declined 178.35 points or 0.76 per cent to 23,381.60.