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'Black Monday' for Sensex, Nifty as stocks crash over Trump Tariff shock
The benchmark index BSE Sensex declined nearly 5 per cent to open 3,100 points lower while the Nifty Nifty also opened 1,200 points lower.
Indian share markets crashed on Monday as global trade war and growing recession fears in the US triggered a stock market rout on Wall Street and in other Asian markets.
The benchmark index BSE Sensex declined nearly 5 per cent to open 3,100 points lower while the Nifty Nifty also opened 1,200 points lower. This is the biggest opening fall in the Indian markets since the Covid. (Live updates)
All the 13 major sectors declined. The broader small-caps and mid-caps lost 10% and 7.3%, respectively.
IT companies, which earn a significant share of their revenue from the US lost 7%. The broader small-caps and mid-caps lost 6.2% and 4.6%, respectively.
Also read: 5 biggest stock market crashes in India’s history
Other Asian markets slumped earlier on Monday, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index losing 6.8%. Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 6.5%.
Impact of Trump Tariffs
The Nasdaq index confirmed it entered a bear market on Friday, as oil prices and other commodities plunged amid a massive global market decline following US President Donald Trump's announcement of sweeping tariffs on Wednesday.
Trump's new tariffs are "larger than expected", and the economic impact on inflation and growth will be likely, said Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday, flagging an uncertain outlook on the US economy.
In the two days following Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement, US markets shed $5.4 trillion in value and dragged the S&P 500 to the lowest level in 11 months.
Asian markets crash
The Indian markets followed the path of the global bloodbath in stock indices, and both the indices of India opened with heavy selling pressure.
On Monday, Japan's Nikkei share average dropped nearly 9%, while an index of Japanese bank stocks plunged as much as 17%, as concerns over a tariff-induced global recession continued to rip through markets.
Since Trump revealed the more aggressive-then-anticipated levies last week, the Nikkei has tumbled 11.6% and the US S&P 500 has dropped 10.6%.
"It's extremely difficult to judge how far this stock market correction will run (but) as long as there exists a lack of clarity of tariffs and each country's response, the market will remain heavy," said Maki Sawada, an equities strategist at Nomura Securities.
At the same time, "the market currently is only pricing in bad news", so if there are signs of flexibility on tariffs or the announcement of economic support measures, "it's highly likely we'll see a bottom form in the market," Sawada said.
