Sensex plunges over 765 points as foreign funds exit, tariff worries mount

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled on Friday amid non-stop foreign fund outflows and tariff-related jitters.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 765.47 points or 0.95 per cent to settle at 79,857.79. During the day, it tumbled 847.42 points or 1.05 per cent to 79,775.84. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 232.85 points or 0.95 per cent to 24,363.30.

From the Sensex firms, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank and Reliance Industries were among the laggards. However, NTPC, Titan, Trent, ITC and Bajaj Finserv were the gainers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,997.19 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DII), however, bought stocks worth Rs 10,864.04 crore in the previous trade.

The initial 25 per cent tariffs announced by the US on Indian imports came into effect Thursday. In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 index settled in positive territory, while South Korea's Kospi, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended lower.

European markets were trading mostly in the green. The US markets ended on a mixed note on Thursday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.59 per cent to USD 66.82 a barrel. On Thursday, the Sensex edged higher by 79.27 points or 0.10 per cent to settle at 80,623.26. The Nifty went up by 21.95 points or 0.09 per cent to 24,596.15.