Stock markets went into a tailspin on Tuesday with the benchmark Sensex plunging 1390 points from heavy selling in IT and private banking shares amid heightened uncertainty ahead of the anticipated rollout of US reciprocal tariffs on April 2 — termed as ‘Liberation Day’ by US President Donald Trump.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded by ₹3,44,058.44 crore to ₹4,09,43,588.06 crore ($4.78 trillion).
“Benchmark indices started the new fiscal FY26 on a sour note after ending sharply lower on Tuesday ahead of US President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement,” Satish Chandra Aluri, analyst at Lemonn Markets Desk, said.
The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 1390.41 points, or 1.80 per cent, to settle at 76024.51 as 28 of its components ended lower and only two advanced. During the day, the index plummeted 1502.74 points, or 1.94 per cent, to 75912.18.
The NSE Nifty dropped 353.65 points, or 1.50 per cent, to 23165.70. The key indices logged their steepest single-day losses in a month.
From the Sensex pack, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Titan, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro, Tech Mahindra and NTPC were among the biggest laggards.
Among the gainers, IndusInd Bank jumped over 5 per cent, while Zomato ended marginally higher.
“Amid heightened global volatility ahead of the anticipated US reciprocal tariff announcement tomorrow, the domestic market witnessed a significant sell-off today.
“The IT sector was among the hardest hit due to its substantial exposure to the US market, and real estate stocks fell following Maharashtra’s upward revision of ready reckoner rates, which affect property valuations,” Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
“Uncertainty surrounding the US reciprocal tariff rates ahead of the April 2 deadline and its potential impact on global trade led to a negative opening, which worsened as the session progressed,” Ajit Mishra – SVP, research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.
The BSE midcap gauge tanked 1.04 per cent, while the smallcap index went up marginally by 0.07 per cent.
Among the BSE sectoral indices, realty slumped the most by 3.05 per cent, followed by consumer durables (2.51 per cent), BSE Focused IT (2.42 per cent), IT (2.24 per cent), financial services (1.78 per cent), teck (1.73 per cent) and bankex (1.50 per cent).
Among other Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled in the positive territory. Markets in Europe were also trading higher. US stock indexes bounced off session lows on Tuesday, helped by gains in heavyweight technology stocks and Tesla.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹4,352.82 crore on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.12 per cent to $74.86 a barrel.
Gold prices surged ₹2,000, the steepest in nearly two months, to hit a fresh peak of ₹94,150 per 10 grams in the national capital on Tuesday amid persistent buying by stockists and jewellers, according to the All India Sarafa Association.
