Stocks swoon as tariff reality hits investors hard: What happened?

Indian shares were hammered by a wave of selling that swept riskier assets worldwide on Friday, mirroring Wall Street’s overnight slump–the worst since 2020–in reaction to US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff system, raising concerns about a global collapse. The NSE Nifty lost 1.5%, or 345.65 points, to end at 22,904.45. The BSE Sensex fell 1.2 percent, or 930.67 points, to 75,364.69. The market value plummeted by ₹10 lakh crore on Friday.

China imposed retaliatory tariffs and export bans on crucial goods, sending US markets down 4-5% around 23:50 IST Friday. “The big selloff in the US has triggered a global risk-off sentiment,” said Mahesh Patil, CIO of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC.

‘More short-term turmoil expected.’ US Treasury rates fell below 4% on Friday for the first time since October, as worries of a recession fueled a rush to safety. Uncertainty about the impact of the US-China trade conflict drove oil prices lower. Brent oil prices fell 6.8% to $65.35 a barrel. “The global markets are in a funk because of the sharp fall in the US markets, downgrades in economic forecasts, and China and the European Union expected to retaliate,” said Aashish Somaiyaa, CEO of WhiteOak Capital AMC. China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Indonesian markets were closed. Japan fell roughly 2.8%, Thailand 3.6%, Vietnam 1.8%, and South Korea 0.9%.

“Despite being relatively better positioned than its Asian peers like China, Taiwan, and Bangladesh, Indian markets have declined because the tariff war is heating up with retaliatory moves by other nations, “Patilstatesl. The dip in the Sensex and Nifty was offset by the resilience of blue chip lenders such as Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank, which increased by 0.5% to 1.5%. The Bank Nifty index closed 0.2% lower. The broader market, however, saw no such assistance, with the Nifty Mid-cap 150 index and the Small-cap 250 index down 2.9% and 3.3%, respectively.

Of the 4,076 shares traded on the BSE, 1,029 climbed and 2923 dropped. The Nifty Metal Index fell 6.6% on Friday, while the Pharma and IT indexes fell almost 4%. The Nifty Realty Index fell 3.6%, while the oil and gas, healthcare, consumer durables, and auto indexes fell 2-4%. On Friday, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 3,484 crore. Their domestic competitors also sold shares totaling Rs 1,720 crore. In April, international investors sold stocks worth more than Rs 14,500 crore.