Sensex tanks 762 points in early trade, Nifty drops to 24,538 level on weak Asian market trends

Stock markets closed lower in a range-bound trade on Friday following losses in IT shares and sluggish trends in Asian markets due to trade uncertainty after a US appeals court temporarily reinstated reciprocal tariffs.

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty on Monday morning tumbled following weak trends in Asian markets and renewed global trade concerns.

Moreover, foreign fund outflows also dented investors' sentiment, experts noted.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 762.24 points to 80,688.77 in early trade. The NSE Nifty dropped 212.25 points to 24,538.45.

From the Sensex firms, HDFC Bank, HCL Tech, Reliance Industries, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, Titan, Tata Consultancy Services and Tata Steel were among the biggest laggards.

Hindustan Unilever, Adani Ports, Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank and Nestle were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng were trading lower.

US markets ended on a mixed note on Friday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 6,449.74 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

US President Donald Trump on Friday said he is doubling the tariff on steel imports to 50 per cent.

"The market structure favours continuation of the ongoing consolidation phase. There are global headwinds like renewed tariff concerns that will restrain a breakout rally. At the same time there are domestic tailwinds that will support the market at lower levels. President Trump's 50 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium is a clear message that the tariff and trade scenario will continue to be uncertain and turbulent. This headwind will impact markets.

"On the domestic front, the tailwinds are getting stronger with the latest Q4 GDP growth data coming at 7.4 per cent, which is much better-than-expected," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

Indian economy expanded at a faster pace than expected in the last quarter of the 2024-25 fiscal, helping clock a 6.5 per cent growth rate in the year that elevated its size to $3.9 trillion and held promise of crossing world's fourth-largest economy Japan in FY26.

The Indian economy grew at 7.4 per cent in January-March - the fourth and final quarter of April 2024 to March 2025 fiscal (FY25) - reflecting a strong cyclical rebound that was helped by a rise in private consumption and robust growth in construction and manufacturing.

Vikas Jain, Head of Research at Reliance Securities, said, "Negative cues from global markets could cap gains. Asian markets and US index futures have come under pressure due to rising geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine, as well as renewed trade frictions following US President Donald Trump's decision to double tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50 per cent."

Global oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 2.20 per cent to $64.16 a barrel.

On Friday, the BSE Sensex declined by 182.01 points or 0.22 per cent to settle at 81,451.01. The Nifty dipped 82.90 points or 0.33 per cent to 24,750.70.