Trade war concerns drag Sensex, Nifty

A poster of bear and bull in south Mumbai seems to reflect the mood of the stock markets.

A poster of bear and bull in south Mumbai seems to reflect the mood of the stock markets.   | Photo Credit: Paul Noronha

After U.S. imposed 25% levy on Chinese imports, Beijing retaliates with 25% tariff on 106 U.S. products

Fresh concerns over a trade war between the U.S. and China pushed world markets in a tailspin on Wednesday with the Indian benchmark indices shedding more than 1% each even after opening on a strong note.

Close on the heels of the U.S. announcing a 25% levy on a long list of Chinese goods, China retaliated in quick time by imposing a 25% import tariff on 106 products from U.S., which made world markets jittery with fears of a full-blown trade war.

The 30-share Sensex, which touched a high of 33,505.53 during the day, ended at 33019.07, down 351.56 points or 1.05%. The broader Nifty closed 116.60 points or 1.14% lower at 10,128.40.

“Investors grew wary of renewed trade war fears between the US and China, and adopted a note of caution,” said Karthikraj Lakshmanan, senior fund manager-Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund, while adding that Indian indices mirrored the overall global fall.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hang Seng was down more than 650 points while South Korea’s Kospi and Taiwan’s TSEC also ended in the red. Incidentally, the Dow Jones lost over 300 points in the first hour of the trading session on Wednesday.

Among the Sensex pack, 25 declined with Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, L&T, Axis Bank and Tata Steel all losing over 2% each. The overall breadth was was also weak with nearly 1,500 stocks in the red as against 1,157 gainers.

Weak listings

Shares of ICICI Securities made a weak debut on the bourses on Wednesday, dipping below the issue price on the first day of listing as investors remained cautious after the public issue of the company had failed to get fully subscribed.

On the BSE, the shares opened at ₹431.10, much below the issue price of ₹520. During the day, it touched a high of Rs.462.70, before ending the day at 445.05, 14.41% lower than its issue price.

The day also saw the listing of government-owned Mishra Dhatu Nigam, which managed to close only marginally above its issue price. On the NSE, it closed at ₹90.10, only a tad higher than its issue price of ₹90. On the BSE, shares closed at ₹90, after touching a high of ₹90.90.