Trump’s Tariff Blow: India’s Sensex Crashes 14%, Global Losses Mount

Stock Market News 03 April 2025: Asian markets registered a huge decline on Thursday after US President Donald Trump announced the imposition of reciprocal tariffs on several countries. Indian stock market opened with a decline. Weakness was seen in Indian markets as soon as trading started on Thursday. Nifty 50 opened 150 points or 0.64% lower at 23,182, below the important key support of 23,200. Sensex opened at 76,120, down nearly 500 points or 0.65%. Global markets witnessed a sell-off due to Donald Trump's latest tariff announcements. Asian markets are also under pressure. With the focus being on key sectors such as automobiles, pharmaceuticals, electronics, IT and jewellery, investors will keep an eye on early trends and market sentiment.

From Wall Street to Mumbai

the 30-share BSE Sensex rose by about 593 points, while the NSE Nifty was up by 167 points. The BSE Sensex closed at 76,617.44 points with a gain of 592.93 points or 0.78 percent. At one point during trading, it had climbed up to 655.84 points. The National Stock Exchange's Nifty also closed at 23,332.35 points with a gain of 166.65 points or 0.72 percent. The US President announced a tariff of 34 percent on China, 46 percent on Vietnam, 26 percent on India, 26 percent on South Korea and 24 percent on Japanese goods. Its tremendous impact is being seen on the Asian stock market.

Japan's Nikkei 225 fell nearly 3.5 percent and the broader Topix index lost 3.32 percent.

Trump's Tariff Blow

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 2.43 per cent, while mainland China's Shanghai Composite index declined 0.91 per cent.

The new reciprocal rate on China will be added to the existing tariff, bringing the total to 20 percent, meaning the actual tariff rate on Chinese goods is 54 percent.

In South Korea, the Kospi index fell 1.29 per cent, paring losses of more than 3 per cent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 1.17 per cent in early trade.

Gold prices hit a record high and were trading at $3,153.92 an ounce.

Indian stock markets were yet to open.

In the US, the S&P 500 rose 0.67 per cent to close at 5,670.97, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.87 per cent to close at 17,601.05.

The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 235.36 points to close at 42,225.32. Shares of Elon Musk-run Tesla rose 5.3 percent.

Earlier, Trump announced a baseline rate of 10 percent on all imports and higher individual rates for dozens of countries.

These tariffs are half of what the US imposes on goods coming from its trading partners, a combined sum of tariffs and non-monetary barriers. Trump said the rates are low because Americans are "kind."

In the case of Indian tariffs (as calculated by the US in this case), the US follows a formula that includes both monetary and non-monetary duties and barriers. The new US tariff on imports from India is half, i.e. 26 percent.