Mumbai: Benchmark indices declined over 1% on Wednesday, breaking a two-day winning streak, as trade war fears escalated after China announced tariffs on US goods in response to Donald trump’s plan to slap duties on $50 billion in Chinese imports.
China said it would levy 25% tariffs on imports of 106 US products including soybeans, automobiles, chemicals and aircraft, in response to proposed American duties on its high-tech goods, Bloomberg reported. The ministry of commerce in Beijing said the charges will apply to around $50 billion of US imports.
BSE Sensex had a strong opening by rising over 100 points in early trading, but settled 351.56 points, or 1.05%, lower at 33,019.07. In intraday trade, the 30-share index lost 398 points to touch 32,972.56. NSE’s Nifty 50 fell 116.60 points, or 1.14%, to close at 10,128.40 after shuttling between 10,111.30 and 10,279.85.
All the sectoral indices on BSE ended lower with metal losing most at 2.75%, followed by consumer durables 2.55%, basic materials, 2.07% and capital goods 1.95%. However, on NSE, Nifty Auto Index was up 0.40%. BSE MidCap and SmallCap shed 0.92% and 1.01%, respectively.
In the Sensex kitty, Tata Motors Ltd, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd and Hero MotoCorp Ltd were the top gainers, whereas Tata Steel Ltd, Axis Bank Ltd, Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) and NTPC Ltd were among the major losers.
Traders are cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) bi-monthly monetary policy decision on Thursday. According to a Mint poll, the central bank will keep the repo rate unchanged in the first monetary policy review of the current fiscal year, amid a gradual recovery in growth and easing inflation.
Markets will also await US employment data due on Friday. The jobless rate probably fell in March after holding at 4.1% for five straight months.
In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 1.2%, UK’s FTSE 100 declined 0.7% and DAX Index was down 1.7%. Asian shares ended mixed. Futures on the S&P 500 Index declined 1.9% to the lowest in more than five months, Bloomberg reported.
According to provisional data, domestic investors purchased shares worth Rs479.18 crore on net basis, while foreign investors sold shares worth Rs376.51 crore on Tuesday.
Source: livemint.com