Sensex tanks 488 points as US-China trade fear grows; Nifty ends at 11,359

NEW DELHI: Equity indices extended losses for the sixth straight session on Wednesday with the benchmark BSE sensex crashing over 450 points amid worries over US-China trade dispute. Sensex nosedived 488 points or 1.27 per cent to close at 37,789, while the broader NSE Nifty finished 138 points or 1.20 per cent lower at 11,359.

On the BSE index, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, SBI and Vedanta were among the major losers with their stocks sliding as much as 3.35 per cent. 27 out of 30 stocks on the BSE platform closed in red.

On NSE, all sectoral indices witnessed losses with Nifty Media and Realty cracking the most, down as much as 4.53 per cent.

US President Donald Trump’s latest threat to ramp up trade tariffs on China stoked worries that trade talks may be derailed and this rattled both domestic as well as world markets.

Chinese vice-premier Liu He will travel to Washington for a two-day meet, beginning Thursday, in a last ditch attempt to avoid a sharp increase in tariff on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.

Subdued corporate results and caution ahead of national election outcome also weighed on indexes.

“Earnings have been below market expectations so far and that is one of the primary reasons for the sell-off,” RK Gupta, managing director at Taurus Asset Management in New Delhi told news agency Reuters.

“Another reason for this profit-booking is elections. Investors, especially institutions, are not going long ahead of the outcome of the national election on May 23,” he added.