Mumbai: Indian stock markets ended the first trading session of the week on a negative note on Monday. The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ended lower following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.
The move, which includes additional reciprocal tariffs, raised concerns about global trade tensions, leading to a sell-off in key indices.
The 30-share Sensex declined 548.39 points, or 0.70 percent, to close at 77,311.80. During the day, it traded between a high of 77,849.58 and a low of 77,106.89.
Similarly, the Nifty dropped 178.35 points, or 0.76 percent, to settle at 23,381.60. The index touched a high of 23,568.60 and a low of 23,316.30 before closing in the red.
Selling pressure across various sectors weighed on the benchmark indices, dragging them down throughout the session. The market favoured the bears, as 39 out of the 50 Nifty stocks ended lower.
Trent, Tata Steel and Titan were among the biggest losers, with their losses reaching up to 4.48 per cent. On the other hand, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel, Britannia, Tata Consumer Products, and HCL Tech managed to stay in the green with gains up to 1.74 per cent.
Broader markets also followed the trend, with the Nifty Smallcap100 and Nifty Midcap100 indices falling by 2.12 per cent and 2.11 per cent, respectively.
The markets remained volatile as the India VIX, which measures market fear, surged 5.55 points to 14.45. All sectoral indices on the NSE ended in the red.
Analysts suggest that the uncertainty surrounding the implementation of new US tariffs may keep markets volatile in the coming sessions.
“The decline continues in the headline index as it has been falling after forming a lower top on the daily chart,” said Rupak De from LKP Securities.
Weak global cues weighed on investor sentiment after US President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, alongside additional reciprocal tariffs,” added Vikram Kasat from PL Capital-Prabhudas Lilladher.
Meanwhile, gold witnessed strong gains, surging above Rs 85,800 in MCX and hitting $2,900 in spot markets as Trump’s new round of tariffs on metal products intensified trade war concerns.
Given the growing risk-off sentiment, analysts expect gold to maintain a positive trend and range between Rs 84,000 and Rs 86,500 in the coming days.
–IANS
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