Tariff fears: Sensex sinks below 73,000
Mumbai: Falling for the third straight day, benchmark BSE Sensex declined by 96 points to close below the 73,000 mark on Tuesday amid global equity rout on tariff war worries and persistent foreign fund outflows.
The 30-share BSE barometer closed at 72,989.93, down by 96.01 points or 0.13 per cent, as 18 of its components declined and 12 settled with gains. During the day, it dropped 452.4 points or 0.62 per cent to a low of 72,633.54 but recovered some of the losses in the second half.
Extending the losses for the 10th straight session, the 50-share Nifty of NSE fell by 36.65 points or 0.17 per cent to close at 22,082.65. The index opened below the 22,000 level at 21,974.45 but managed to recover some losses later.
From the Sensex pack, Bajaj Finserv, HCL Technologies, Nestle India, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki India, Titan, Hindustan Unilever and Reliance Industries were among the laggards.
On the other hand, State Bank of India, Zomato, Tata Consultancy Services, Adani Ports, Power Grid, Tata Steel and HDFC Bank were the gainers.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, “The domestic market exhibited a recovery from today’s lows but remained in negative territory due to adverse global cues related to escalating global trade tensions.”
“Weak global cues continue to weigh on sentiment, but selective buying is limiting the downside,” Ajit Mishra - SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.
Despite the market ended in the red zone, the BSE smallcap gauge climbed 1.28 per cent, and midcap index rose 0.08 per cent.
Abhishek Jaiswal, Fund Manager at Finavenue, said that the recent correction has effectively removed excess froth from valuations. “With the upcoming Q4 results, we anticipate renewed momentum, positioning small caps for the next phase of growth,” Jaiswal added.
Among BSE sectoral indices, Auto (1.13 per cent), Focussed IT (0.96 per cent), Teck (0.86 per cent), IT(0.77 per cent), Telecommunication (0.45 per cent), FMCG(0.40 per cent) and Consumer Discretionary (0.18 per cent) were the losers.
On the other hand, Capital Goods, Industrials, Oil & Gas, Services, Energy, Commodities, Healthcare and Power were among the gainers.
As many as 2,221 stocks advanced while 1,737 declined and 128 remain unchanged on the BSE.
Meanwhile, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms rose by Rs 1,06,388.96 crore to Rs 3,85,07,568.89 (USD 4.41 trillion).
“Indian benchmark indices opened lower and continued to fall during the day, ending in negative territory on Tuesday amid continued FII selling and ongoing geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
“The market sentiments were dented due to concerns over a global trade war arising from the US president’s confirmation of a 25 per cent Tariff on Canada and Mexico and a 20 per cent tariff on Chinese imports over fentanyl issues,” Ameya Ranadive, Chartered Market Technician, CFTe, Sr Technical Analyst, StoxBox, said.
Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research, HDFC Securities said, “The Nifty index fell for the tenth consecutive session, the longest losing run in 29 years. Out of the last 19 trading sessions, only one session has ended in positive territory.”
The U.S. has officially implemented a 25 per cent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, while Chinese goods now face a cumulative 20 percent duty following an additional 10 percent levy. In a further escalation, reciprocal tariffs will kick in from April 2, intensifying concerns over trade disruptions and financial market instability, he added.
In Asian markets, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul were ended in red, while Shanghai in green territory.
European markets were trading in the negative territory in the mid-session deals. The US markets ended lower on Monday.
Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude dropped 1.37 per cent to USD 70.64 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,788.29 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
