Sensex Bleeds Nearly 4,000 Points, Nifty Falls 5 Per Cent. Why Did Stock Market Crash Today?

Donald Trump's steep tariffs continued to worsen fears of a recession in the US economy. China's retaliatory tariffs on American imports further triggered the concerns surrounding the global trade war

On the 30-share Sensex, the stocks completely painted the town in red. Major laggards so far included Tata Steel, Tata Motors, HCL Tech, L&T, and Tech M.

Source : ABPLIVE AI

The Indian stock markets experienced major Monday blues and began the week with a huge crash. In the pre-open session, the BSE Sensex plummeted close to 4,000 points and more than 5 per cent to fall under 71,450 at 9:13 AM, while the NSE Nifty50 tanked over 1,100 points or 5 per cent to trade well under the 22k mark at 21,758.40.

Markets Attempt A Weak Recovery

As of  9:27 AM, the markets recovered slightly but continued to bleed all over. The Sensex crashed more than 2,500 points or 3.40 per cent to trade at 72,800, while the Nifty took a fall of over 850 points or 3.73 per cent to cross the 22k mark. 

On the 30-share Sensex, the stocks completely painted the town in red. Major laggards so far included Tata Steel, Tata Motors, HCL Tech, L&T, and Tech M. In the broader markets, the Nifty Microcap 250 tanked over 6 per cent. Sectorally, the Metal and Midsmall IT & Telecom indices dominated the losses and bled 7.49 per cent and 6.44 per cent respectively.

What Led To The Bloodbath?

The domestic markets echoed the sentiment prevalent across Asian indices today. The MSCI Asia ex-Japan index crashed 6.5 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng plunged 8 per cent in early trade. Japan's Nikkei 225 bled nearly 8.8 per cent to reach a one and a half year low.

Donald Trump's steep tariffs continued to worsen fears of a recession in the US economy. China's retaliatory tariffs on American imports further triggered the concerns surrounding what is being called a global trade war now.

Experts explained that bearish sentiment was prevalent in the market today, as suggested by the GIFT NIFTY which remained around 22,090 in early hours, tanking over 850 points. The tariffs from the US, higher than anticipated, triggered investors to adopt a cautious outlook. Further, a lack of strong domestic triggers added to the insecurity among traders. 

While foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers for the fifth straight session on April 4 and dumped Indian equities worth Rs 3,483 crore, the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) reversed their sentiment and turned sellers and withdrew Rs 1,720 crore from equities.