Sensex Plunges Amid Trade War Fears; Metal Stocks Top Losers

After opening the day flat, share markets in India witnessed volatile trading activity throughout the day and ended the day deep in the red. Sectoral indices too ended the day in red, with stocks in the metal sector and stocks in the consumer durables sector leading the gains.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 352 points (down 1%) and the NSE Nifty closed down by 117 points (down 1.1%). The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day down 0.9%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day down by 1.1%.

Asian stock markets too finished in red. As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng was down by 2.2% and the Shanghai Composite was down by 0.2%. The Nikkei 225 was down by 0.1%. Meanwhile, European markets were trading on a negative note. The FTSE 100 was down by 0.7%, The DAX, was down by 1.6% while the CAC 40 was down by 1%.

The rupee was trading at Rs 65.17 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 62.36 at the time of writing.

In news from global markets. The ongoing trade war between US and China is showing no signs of stopping, with china imposing fresh tariffs on US goods.

China hit back at the trump administration’s plans to slap tariffs on US$ 50 billion in Chinese goods, retaliating with a list of similar duties on key US imports including soybeans, planes, cars, whiskey and chemicals.

China said it would levy 25% tariffs on imports of 106 US products.

Chinese retaliation for the Trump administration’s latest move had been widely expected. Beijing typically responds to overseas tariffs with similar ones of its own, and Chinese officials had promised a proportional response if the Trump administration went ahead this week with the next step toward broad tariffs on Chinese goods.

But in the past, China has tended to wait days and sometimes weeks before striking back.

The tit-for-tat tariffs are part of a wider clash looming over trade between the world’s two biggest economies. Stock markets around the world have taken a hit in recent weeks as Washington and Beijing have escalated their trade dispute.