Indian equity markets witnessed a dramatic plunge on Sunday morning, with both benchmark indices falling sharply amid a wider global selloff triggered by tariff announcements from the Trump administration and panic across Asian and American bourses.
The Nifty 50 opened at 21,758.40, dropping by 1,146.05 points or 5 per cent, marking its lowest level in a year.
The BSE Sensex fared no better, tumbling 3,984.80 points or 5.29 per cent to 71,379.8 in opening trade, making it one of the steepest single-session declines since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to analysts, the sharp downturn is rooted not in domestic factors but in the ripple effect of collapsing global markets and the uncertainty unleashed by fresh protectionist policies announced by US President Donald Trump.
“India will face the heat, not due to domestic reasons, but as an interlinked chain in the global portfolio flows,” market expert Ajay Bagga maintained. “India will need a fiscal, monetary and reform package to protect the domestic economy from this global economic winter that is threatening to settle in. The consequences of an Economic-Nuclear policy which has announced the highest tariffs of a century on all trading partners are now coming home to roost.”
Bagga added that the USD 5.4 trillion two-day meltdown in US markets had triggered unprecedented selling across Asia, with Taiwan suffering a 20 per cent slump after reopening from a two-day closure, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index plummeted 10 per cent before a mild recovery.
In other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index recorded a sharp decline of 5.79 per cent, while South Korea’s KOSPI fell 4.14 per cent. China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 6.5 per cent, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 3.82 per cent, signalling a widespread panic across the Asia-Pacific region.
Also read: Jaguar Land Rover stalls US exports over fresh duties
Back home, markets displayed clear signs of bearish dominance, with technical indicators flashing further downside potential.
“Nifty 50 did not perform well and remained down, showing a strong bearish trend in the sector. A big red candle indicated the dominance of sellers in the sector, potentially pushing the price to a lower low. Currently, the price has broken one support level and is hovering towards the second. A breakdown below this support would confirm the continuation of the downtrend in the sector,” said Sunil Gurjar, SEBI-registered research analyst and founder of Alphamojo Financial Services.
Meanwhile, investors are pinning hopes on a rollback or delay in the tariffs. However, officials from the Trump administration have indicated that the tariffs could remain in place for “the next few weeks or months”.
The bearish momentum also gripped American markets, with Dow Jones futures down 2.22 per cent, pointing towards a grim opening session in the United States.
The turmoil extended to the commodities market, with Brent crude prices sliding to a 52-week low, trading at USD 63.97 at the time of filing the report.
As panic spreads across continents, the call for coordinated fiscal and monetary intervention grows louder, with observers stressing the urgency of stabilising investor sentiment amid rising fears of a global economic downturn.
Follow us
