Sensex Crashes Over 650 Points, Nifty Below 24,550 as US Tariff Shock Hits Dalal Street
Stock markets plunged on Thursday morning as investors reacted with alarm to the newly imposed 50% US tariffs on Indian exports, which officially came into effect on Wednesday. The benchmark BSE Sensex crashed by nearly 700 points, or 1%, to an intraday low of 80,107, while the Nifty 50 also shed about 1% to fall below the 24,550 mark, signaling a sharp, negative reaction to the escalating trade war.
The intense selloff led to a significant erosion of investor wealth, with nearly ₹4 lakh crore wiped off the market capitalization of BSE-listed companies in the morning session alone. The broad-based panic also saw the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices tumbling over 1% each, as no corner of the market was spared from the tariff-induced jitters.
The focus of the selling pressure was squarely on export-linked sectors, which are expected to bear the brunt of the steep new duties. Stocks in the apparel, textiles, auto parts, gems & jewellery, and engineering goods sectors were all under pressure as the market began to price in the potential impact on their earnings and growth prospects. The US has justified the tariffs by citing India’s continued purchase of Russian crude oil.
In a departure from the negative sentiment on Dalal Street, most other Asian markets were trading higher, tracking modest overnight gains on Wall Street. However, US futures saw a slight dip after chipmaker Nvidia’s sales outlook fell short of the market’s lofty expectations, hinting at a potential slowdown in the AI-driven growth that has recently powered global tech stocks.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq had both closed in positive territory on Wednesday, but the positive global cues were completely overshadowed in India by the immediate and significant threat posed by the new tariff regime.
