Sensex battered as tariff woes emerge

Mumbai: The equity markets fell for the second straight session as subdued sentiments in both the global and domestic markets triggered broad based profit booking on Thursday.

While renewed trade tensions between US and China impacted global risk appetite, the 25 basis point hike in repo rate by the Reserve Bank on Wednesday impacted domestic sentiments.

The Sensex slumped 356.46 points or 0.95 per cent to end the day at 37,165.16 while the Nifty lost 101.50 points or 0.89 per cent to close at 11,244.70.

“A host of lacklustre global as well as domestic cues weighed on investor sentiment and pushed the markets lower. Sentiments in European markets remained subdued ahead of a Bank of England meeting, which is expected to deliver a rate hike despite uncertainty over Brexit. Additionally, Asian stocks tumbled on renewed US-China trade concerns. The Trump administration announced that it is looking at the possibility of slapping a 25 per cent tariff on $200 billion worth of imported Chinese goods — from the initial 10 per cent announced earlier,” said Abhijeet Dey, senior fund manager, equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.

According to the provisional data released by the stock exchanges, FPIs sold shares worth Rs 639.87 crores on Thursday.

“As the sell off in global markets gained momentum, Indian markets started to feel the rub off effect resulting in sustained weakness throughout the day. While Thursday’s session signalled a pause to the recent optimism, it is very healthy to have correction in between. The market is likely to attract fresh buying if Nifty extends its fall towards 11,220 – 11,180 levels,” said Sameet Chavan, chief technical analyst at Angel Broking.