Market rout continues as US-China trade war intensifies; rupee woes worsen

Mumbai: The BSE benchmark Sensex on Tuesday tumbled by about 295 points to close at an over one-month low of 37,290.67 due to hectic selling in realty, PSU, power and banking counters amid flaring up of trade tariff tensions between the US and China and weakness in the rupee.

The broader Nifty also cracked below the 11,300-mark. The domestic currency after remaining range-bound was quoting lower by 27 paise at 72.78 (intra-day) against the US dollar in late afternoon trade.

Market sentiments were further dampened after US President Donald Trump on Monday announced imposition of new tariffs on an additional USD 200 billion worth of imports from China, escalating the trade war with the Asian giant.

Alleging that China has been unwilling to change its unfair trade practices, Trump said the new additional tariff structure would be effective September 24 from when it would be at 10 per cent until the year end, but would increase to 25 per cent level from January 1.

The 30-share Sensex opened on a somewhat better note at 37,660.19 and advanced to touch a high of 37,745.44 but turned choppy and hit a low of 37,242.85 as selling pressure gathered momentum towards the fag-end, before settling 294.84 points, or 0.78 per cent, down at 37,290.67. This is the lowest closing since August 2 when it had settled at 37,165.16.

It had lost 505.13 points on Monday as rupee woes and trade war worries spooked investors despite the government announcing measures to stem a steep fall in the domestic currency.

Also, the 50-share NSE Nifty plunged 98.65 points, or 0.87 per cent, to end at 11,278.90. During the session, it moved between 11,411.45 and 11,268.95.

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 180.36 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) also offloaded shares to the tune of Rs 106.54 crore Monday, provisional data showed.