1 week Ago By Firstpost
The global stock market rout spurred off by tariff hikes announced by the US administration on April 2 continued on Monday (April 7). Tracking the bloodbath on Wall Street on Friday (April 4), Asian markets recorded steep falls amide widespread sell-off. READ MORE: US markets plunge as Trump defends tariffs, refuses trade concessions Benchmark stock indices in Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong took were among the hardest hit in early trade, diving over 8 per cent each.
Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Nikkei index, which had opened in the red by 625.61 points at 33,154.97, further sank to hit a 52-week low of 30,792.
74 during early trade— down 8.84 per cent from the previous session’s closing level of 33,780.58.
Things were similar, if not worse, for other Asian stock indices as well. Taiwan’s stocks dived nearly 10 per cent, as trading resumed following a long weekend. Taiwan Stock Exchange weighted index, the Taiex, plunged 9.
8 per cent at the open. Markets in Hong Kong and China reacted not only to Donald Trump’s tariffs, but also Beijing’s retaliation to these duties. Amid rising fears of a painful trade war, the Hang Seng Index dropped 9.
28 per cent, or 2,119.76 points, to 20,730.05.
However, investors in mainland China held on to comparatively better sentiment as the Shanghai Composite Index shed only 4.21 per cent, or 140.84 points, to 3,201.
17. South Korea’s Kospi was off 4.8 per cent in early trade.
Indian equities are likely to track the losses noted on Wall Street and in Asian markets. The GIFT Nifty index, seen as a potential indicator of how the Indian stock benchmarks are likely to open, was down 3.64 per cent or 841.
5 points at 22,123.5. It hinted at a gap-down start for the 30-share BSE Sensex and the broader Nifty 50.
The India VIX, an indicator of volatility in the market was up 1.14 per cent to 13.76 points.
The sell-off in the US is expected to hit Indian Information Technology (IT) stocks the hardest..
