The Sensex plunged over 1,400 points while the Nifty tanked 420 points in line with global markets, which have been rattled by US President Donald Trump’s announcement of an additional 10% tariff on China. 

At the end of the day’s trading, the benchmark Sensex closed at 73,198.10 – 1,414.33 points, or 1.9%, down – while Nifty settled at 22,124.70, down 420.35 points or 1.86%.

The BSE benchmark index is down 12,780.15 points, or 14.86%, from its peak of 85,978.25 on September 27, 2024. Nifty has tanked 4,152.65 points, or 15.8%, from its lifetime high of 26,277.35 on the same day. 

Experts said the increased foreign fund outflows have also negatively impacted investor sentiment. 

“Stock markets dislike uncertainty, and uncertainty has been on the rise ever since Trump was elected the US president. The spate of tariff announcements by Trump has been impacting markets and the latest announcement of additional 10% tariff on China is a confirmation of the market view that Trump will use the initial months of his presidency to threaten countries with tariffs and then negotiate for a settlement favourable to the US,” VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

“How China responds to the latest round of tariffs remains to be seen,” he added.

On Thursday, Trump said that the 25% duties on imports from Canada and Mexico would come into effect on March 4, the day the month-long pause ends, and not April 2 as he had hinted earlier. “China will likewise be charged an additional 10% tariff on that date,” he added.

The 10% tariff on Chinese imports will be in addition to a levy at the same rate that the US president had imposed earlier this month.

China on Friday said it would to take “all necessary countermeasures” and warned that the decision to impose the additional tariff would “seriously impact dialogue.

From the Sensex pack, Tech Mahindra slumped over 6%, followed by IndusInd Bank at 5%. Share prices of Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Tata Motors, Titan, Tata Consultancy Services, Nestle and Maruti also went down.

US markets had ended sharply lower on Thursday and, among Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong also saw their indices plunging.

(With inputs from PTI)