Nifty, Sensex Crash: Benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, dropped over 5% during the pre-opening session on Monday as Trump's surprise Tariff move coupled with China's tit-for-tat stance weighed down investor sentiment.
While all sectoral indices were trading in the red territory, the Nifty metal index bore the brunt of panic and fell by more than 570 points or 6.78%.
From the Sensex pack, all 30 stocks were in the red. Tata Steel, Tata Motors, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra and Infosys were among the top losers.
Meanwhile, broader markets in the Asia region also witnessed a sharp sell-off. Japan's Nikkei plummeted over 2,100 points or 6.39%. Meanwhile, the Hang Seng index crashed by 10% and was trading around 20,400 level, experiencing one of the worst sell-offs.
On Friday, the US markets also experienced a steep decline with the S&P 500 index entering the bear territory after falling by nearly 6%. The tech-heavy index, Nasdaq closed Friday's session in the red territory, plummeting by 5.82% or nearly 1,000 points.
Last hope gone?
While the US's move to impose a 26% tariff on Indian exports came in worse-than-expected, investors initially breathed a sigh of relief as the pharmaceutical sector was spared from the sectoral tariff list. The US remains the largest market for India's generic drug exports, and any disruption would have far-reaching consequences for the Indian pharma industry.
But that relief was short-lived as Trump signalled fresh trouble just days after announcing tariffs. “Pharma tariffs are going to come in at levels you haven’t really seen before. We are looking at pharmaceuticals as a separate category. We will be announcing that sometime in the near future and not too distant future. It’s under review right now," the US President said.
On Monday, the Nifty Pharma index was trading at 19,893.60 level mark, down by 665 points or 3.24% at 9:55 am.
Dragon Hits Back
China has already announced the imposition of a 34% reciprocal tariff rate last week as a retaliatory step. This might just complicate the global trade scenario. “This practice of the US is not in line with international trade rules, seriously undermines China’s legitimate rights and interests, and is a typical unilateral bullying practice,” China’s State Council Tariff Commission reportedly said.
“The purpose of the Chinese government's implementation of export controls on relevant items in accordance with the law is to better safeguard national security and interests, and to fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation,” the Commerce Ministry of China reportedly said.
