Mumbai, April 4 – Indian stock markets witnessed a sharp decline on Friday as fears of a global trade war intensified following the announcement of retaliatory tariffs by the United States. Benchmark indices plummeted, with the BSE Sensex losing nearly 931 points and the NSE Nifty falling by over 345 points, driven by weak global cues and broad-based selling across sectors.
The BSE Sensex ended the session at 75,364.69, down by 930.67 points or 1.22 percent, after touching an intraday low of 75,240.55, a drop of 1,054.81 points. Similarly, the NSE Nifty settled 345.65 points or 1.49 percent lower at 22,904.45, having earlier slipped to a low of 22,867.90 during the session.
Market sentiment turned negative as heavyweight stocks such as Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro, and Infosys faced heavy selling pressure. Tata Steel emerged as the top loser among Sensex constituents, falling by 8.59 percent, followed by Tata Motors, L&T, Adani Ports, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, and others. In contrast, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, Nestlé India, ICICI Bank, ITC, Asian Paints, and Axis Bank managed to end in positive territory.
As per agency report, analysts attributed the downturn to global uncertainty triggered by the US's unexpected tariff hike, which has sparked concerns about potential retaliatory measures from affected countries. The apprehension of broader economic consequences prompted widespread selling among investors.
Over the week, the Sensex declined by 2,050.23 points or 2.64 percent, while the Nifty fell by 614.8 points or 2.61 percent. Broader markets also bore the brunt, with the BSE Midcap index shedding 3.08 percent and the Smallcap index tumbling 3.43 percent.
According to Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, fears surrounding the US tariff strategy are stoking concerns of an impending recession and inflation in the US, with potential ripple effects on other major economies.
The market rout led to a significant erosion in investor wealth. The combined market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies shrank by Rs 9,98,379.46 crore, reducing the total to Rs 4,03,34,886.46 crore (approximately $473 billion).
A total of 2,820 companies on the BSE ended the day in the red, while only 1,126 managed to close higher. About 130 stocks remained unchanged.
In global markets, Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s Kospi indices also registered losses, while the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges were closed for holidays. European stocks traded lower during mid-session deals, following one of the steepest declines in US markets since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Meanwhile, global benchmark Brent crude dropped by 3.26 percent to $67.85 per barrel, further reflecting market volatility.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 2,806 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers, purchasing equities worth Rs 221.47 crore. On the previous day, the Sensex had closed 322.08 points lower at 76,295.36 and the Nifty fell by 82.25 points to end at 23,250.10.
