Sensex plunges 1,018 points as US tariffs fan trade war fears

Benchmark Sensex plunged by 1,018 points to settle at 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.

Advertisement

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, industrial, 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.