S&P 500 and dow close lower amid market turmoil over tariffs and inflation concerns

JP Mogan CEO Jamie Dimon opined on Monday that the tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump were likely to boost prices for both domestic and imported goods — weighing heavily on the already slowing American economy.

“Whatever you think of the legitimate reasons for the newly announced tariffs – and, of course, there are some – or the long-term effect, good or bad, there are likely to be important short-term effects. We are likely to see inflationary outcomes, not only on imported goods but on domestic prices, as input costs rise and demand increases on domestic products. Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth,” CNBC quoted him as saying in his annual shareholder letter.

It was a bloodbath on Dalal Street as Indian benchmark indices tumbled sharply, rattled by global cues and heavy sell-offs across sectors. The BSE Sensex plummeted 2226.79 points or 2.95%, closing at 73,137.90%. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty wasn’t spared either, as it nosedived 662.15 points or 2.89% to settle at 22,242.30. Persistent pressure from IT, metal and all other sectors dragged the indices lower throughout the session.

On a day when the market seemed to be in free fall, several heavyweight stocks took a sharp beating. Tata Steel led the losers with a steep 8.08% drop, followed by L&T which fell 6.56%. Tata Motors wasn’t far behind, slipping 5.70%, while Kotak Bank and Infosys lost 4.92% and 4.44% respectively. Amid this selloff, Hindustan Unilever stood out as a rare gainer, inching up by 0.16%.

With just an hour left for the markets to close, the Indian indices are witnessing one of their worst sessions in recent times. The Sensex has nosedived by over 2,600 points, down 3.5%, to hover around 72,728, while the Nifty has tanked 836 points, slipping 3.65% to trade near 22,068.

In a market gripped by panic and relentless selling, brokerage firm Motilal Oswal is betting on a turnaround story in Trent. Despite the stock tumbling over 15% in intraday trade amid the broader meltdown, the brokerage has reaffirmed its ‘Buy’ rating, setting a target price of Rs 6,800. This suggests a potential upside of 22% from current levels.

European markets continued their freefall on Monday morning — with some indexes heading for a bear market. The Stoxx Europe 600 sank 5.8% while the DAX fell 6.6% by 9:21 am in Paris. Meanwhile the Swedish OMX Stockholm 30 Index dropped 6.1%. The French CAC and the British FTSE indices also opened lower.

Defence stocks led the fall on Monday as as investors sought to build cash by selling winners. The pan-European Stoxx 600 saw all 20 sectors fall — with banking, energy and insurance among the biggest losers.

The share price of Trent crashed 19.3% to an intra-day low of Rs 4,488 on the National Stock Exchange after the company reported a weak provisional business update. Trent’s standalone revenue stood at Rs 4,334 crore in Q4 FY25, registering a 28% growth from Rs 3,381 crore in Q4 FY24, according to the unaudited provisional data. This growth is lower than its five-year CAGR of 36%. It is also below Trent’s 39% annual revenue growth in FY25 at Rs 17,624 crore.

According to latest reports on Nikkei, Japan’s Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru says that he may discuss tariff issues with US President Donald Trump this week over the phone. The Nikkei Index closed with nearly 8% losses.

All Sensex 30 stocks trading in the negative zone at this hour. The sell-off has spared none, with heavyweights leading the slide. Among the key losers are Tata Motors, which has plunged over 8%, followed by L&T down nearly 7%. HCL Tech, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Infosys have each fallen between 5-6%, reflecting the broad-based pressure across sectors. Tata Steel, too, is facing sharp cuts.

Trump Tariff impact on Tata Motors. The share price slides over 10% after Jaguar Land Rover halts shipment to US. Tata Motors is one of the major Indian automotive stocks with significant exposure to the US markets as a result of its subsidiary JLR.

Amidst the global uncertainty owing to US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, India’s fear gauge India VIX shot up 58% to 21.78 level. The India VIX is now at a seventh-month high.

“Gold and Silver prices continued to face turmoil, and hit their lowest levels in more than three weeks, as a wider market sell-off triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff measures impacted bullion traders. Gold and Silver dropped more than 3% on Friday as investors sold off bullion to cover their losses from a wider market meltdown as an intensifying trade war sparked concerns of a global growth slowdown,” said Manav Modi, Senior Analyst, Commodity Research at Motilal Oswal Financial services Ltd.

As of now, the Sensex has plunged by 2,836 points, or 3.76%, to trade at 72,527.97. The Nifty is also down by 4.12%, trading at 21,960.40.

The Nifty 50 has retested its last year low. In March 2024 it touched a low of 21,964, which it breached today. According to Rajesh Palviya, Senior Vice President of Research (Head Technical & Derivatives) at Axis Securities, there could be further selling to the next low of 21,200, which Nifty made in January 2024. The closing levels will be important to watch.

In a clear sign of rising panic among investors, the Nifty Volatility Index (VIX) surged sharply by 57.54% to touch 21.67 as of 11:30 am today. This sudden spike in the VIX, often called the “fear gauge” of the markets indicates heightened uncertainty and anxiety in the intraday trading session.

Monday’s trading session painted a grim picture on Dalal Street, with a massive 2,613 stocks ending in the red, while only 125 managed to advance in Nifty. Out of the 2,787 stocks traded, 356 hit their lower circuits so far. In stark contrast, just 21 stocks were locked in the upper circuit. A whopping 629 stocks hit their 52-week lows, while only 14 touched new highs.

“The market fell today due to a disconnect between how the US is looking at the reciprocal tariff regime and how the market is viewing the same,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities. “The US is seeking to reduce its trade deficits with other countries and increase manufacturing. These objectives cannot be met immediately, even with trade concessions from other countries.”

The Nifty Auto index slipped 5% to 19,624.50 on Monday, mirroring the widespread selloff across Dalal Street. Bharat Forge led the losses with a sharp 9% decline, followed by Tata Motors, which dropped 8%. Other major players like Motherson, Ashok Leyland, and Bajaj Auto also saw their shares slide between 2% and 5%, as investors continued to offload auto stocks amid rising global uncertainties and recession fears.

It’s a rough start to the week for Tata Group companies, as six of its major firms listed on the Nifty 50 – TCS, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Titan, Tata Consumer Products, and Trent – saw a combined market capitalisation erosion of over Rs 1 lakh crore on Monday, April 7. The steep fall came amid a broader market rout, triggered by global uncertainties and heavy foreign investor selling.

Dalal Street witnessed a heavy selloff as the Nifty Metal Index plunged 7.5% amid escalating global trade tensions. All constituent stocks were deep in the red, with Lloyds Metals and Energy crashing nearly 12%, followed by Tata Steel sliding 10%, and Hindustan Copper down 9%. Other major players like National Aluminium, Vedanta, SAIL, and Hindustan Zinc also tumbled around 8%, reflecting investor panic.

“All through last week, though 21800 kept surfacing in our estimations, we had refrained from seeing such a collapse as a likely event, expecting 22730-650-522 support to hold. But, Friday’s panic sell off has weakened this construct of expecting support to stay relevant, as a gapped down opening is likely to scythe through such levels. But that would also mean that we might be testing 2 standard deviations below mean, taking just under 10 days to travel from +2 to -2 standard deviation. Such a scenario would improve the odds of a close back above 22165, or 22522 today in a best case scenario,” said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited.

“After a sharp correction, we believe the market is trading near the 20-day and 50-day Simple Moving Averages (SMAs). The short-term outlook indicates that if the market reclaims the 23,000/75800 mark, we could see a pullback rally reaching up to 23,250-23,325/76500-76800. Conversely, selling is likely to continue as long as the market remains below the 23,000/75800 level. Further downside may persist, potentially dragging the index down to 22,350-22000-21800/74000-73000-72400,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities.

The Nifty IT index slumped 6% to trade at 31,519.55, reflecting the deep sell-off across global tech stocks. All 10 constituents of the index were in the red, with Coforge leading the fall, down nearly 8%. Tech Mahindra and Infosys followed close behind with losses of 7%, while HCL Tech, Persistent, Mphasis, and TCS slipped around 6% each. The sharp decline underscores investor caution amid global headwinds and rising concerns over IT spending cuts.

Tata Group’s three stocks are the major losers in the Nifty 50. Trent hit the lower circuit to be the significant loser. It was followed by Tata Steel and Tata Motors, which plunged 10% and 8.3% respectively. The shares of Tata Consultancy Services declined 4.95%.

“Globally markets are going through heightened volatility caused by extreme uncertainty. No one has a clue about how this turbulence caused by Trump tariffs will evolve. Wait and watch would be the best strategy in this turbulent phase of the market. There are a few things that investors should keep in mind. One, the irrational Trump tariffs will not continue for long. Two, India is relatively better placed since India’s exports to the US as percentage of GDP is only around 2 percent and therefore the impact on India’s growth will not be significant. Three, India is negotiating a Bilateral Trade Agreement with the US and this is likely to be successful resulting in lower tariffs for India,” said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Fear gripped the markets early Monday as the Nifty Volatility Index (VIX) spiked sharply to 21.18, marking a dramatic 54% jump. The surge in VIX reflects heightened uncertainty and investor nervousness following global market sell-offs and geopolitical tensions.

It was a sea of red on Dalal Street as all 30 Sensex stocks traded in negative territory. Tata Steel led the fall, plunging 9.97%, followed closely by Infosys, which dropped 8.99%, and Tata Motors, down 8.92%. Tech Mahindra shed 7.71%, while Adani Ports and HCL Tech declined 7.35% and 7.30% respectively. L&T was down 7.10%, and TCS slipped 6.17%.

India’s broader markets witnessed sharp cuts on Monday, with the BSE MidCap index falling by 2,069 points or 5.11%, while the BSE SmallCap index plunged 3,181 points or 6.94%.

The Indian benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, opened sharply lower on Monday, mirroring the global sell-off. The Sensex tanked 3914.75 points, or 5.19%, to open at 71,449.94, while the Nifty slipped 1,146.05 points, or 5%, to start the day at 21,758.40, indicating a deep red start for Dalal Street.

Indian equity markets witnessed a brutal start to the week, with both the Sensex and Nifty tumbling sharply in the pre-opening session. The Sensex plunged 3,367.60 points, or 4.47%, to 71,997.09. The Nifty also mirrored the fall, shedding 4.47%, pointing to a rough trading day ahead as global market turmoil and recession fears weigh heavily on investor sentiment.