Sensex Falls For Fourth Day In A Row Amid Fears Of Global Trade War

Indian stock markets fell sharply on Monday, extending their fall to the fourth day amid fears of a global trade war. Most Asian markets ended lower today, after US President Donald Trump pledged on Thursday to impose hefty tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, raising prospects of a global trade war. Meanwhile, Italian exit polls pointed to a hung parliament that could cast the euro zone's third-largest economy into a political gridlock, hurting global risk appetite. Indian markets were closed on Friday on account of a public holiday.

However, some analysts say that the weakness in Indian markets is temporary and a positive March-quarter corporate results would boost sentiment. "The market is absorbing the negative global reports," said Krish Subramanyam, co-head and equity adviser at Altamount Capital. "March-quarter results are expected to be positive and with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) doing well in the northeast, optimism will return."

The Sensex ended 300 points lower at 33,746 while Nifty settled at 10,358, down nearly 100 points.


In a blog post, market analyst Ambareesh Baliga said 10,200 is a crucial level for the Nifty. "We need to watch for psychological Nifty support levels of 10,200 where a breach could trigger a sell-off."

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Losses were seen across most sectors with metal and oil and gas stocks dragging the indexes. The Nifty Metal Index ended down 3.2 per cent, Tata Steel falling nearly 3 per cent and Hindalco slumping nearly 5 per cent.


Drugmaker Aurobindo Pharma Ltd fell nearly 4 per cent after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said there were deficiencies in maintaining manufacturing quality standards at its Hyderabad facility.

IT stocks bucked the broader weak trend with BSE IT index rising nearly 0.4 per cent. TCS and Tech Mahindra rose between 2 per cent and 3 per cent. (With Agency Inputs)