Stock markets were gored by US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports as nearly ₹9.30 lakh crore of investor wealth got shredded on Tuesdayand the benchmark Sensex tanked 1018.20 points.
Trump’s move sparked fears of a trade war and disruptions which could hurt global growth.
It could not have come at a worse time to the Indian economy — itself witnessing a slowdown and buffeted by headwinds such as dogged FPI selling, poor corporate earnings and expensive valuations, leading to investors adopting a risk-off tendency.
Declining for the fifth day, the Sensex crashed 1018.20 points or 1.32 per cent to settle at a two-week low of 76293.60. During the day, it tanked 1281.21 points or 1.65 per cent to 76030.59.
The NSE Nifty lost 309.80 points or 1.32 per cent to settle at 23071.80. Over the past five sessions, ₹18.66 lakh crore of investors wealth were destroyed. In this time, the Sensex has cracked 2290.21 points or 2.91 per cent, while the Nifty has fallen 667.45 points or 2.81 per cent.
Adding to investor woes is the continuous selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), with ₹4,486 crore offloaded Tuesday.
FPI outflows from equity sales stand at over $10 billion in 2025. In January they sold stocks worth $9.04 billion and so far this month, they sold $1.16 billion.
The selling spree has run over the tax incentives in the budget, which are expected to boost personal consumption, and the 25-basis-points repo rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
“The ongoing uncertainty surrounding US trade policies and tariffs, coupled with domestic economic growth concerns and persistent selling by FPIs, is dampening market sentiment. The mid- and small-cap stocks experienced significant declines due to demand concerns and higher valuations,” Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services, said.
The BSE smallcap gauge plunged 3.40 per cent, the midcap index 2.88 per cent.
``A significant and widespread sell-off was observed in the market, with all major sectors experiencing declines and closing in the negative territory for a consecutive session,” Osho Krishnan, Sr. Analyst, Technical & Derivatives of - Angel One, said.
