Tariff trauma: Sensex is back below 80k mark after 3 months

MUMBAI: A day after Dalal Street investors ignored the significantly higher US tariffs, the sensex slumped nearly 1% or 765 points on Friday to a three-month closing low of 79,858. It closed below the 80,000 mark for the first time since May 9 on fears of the tariffs hitting Indian companies and the economy, and due to consistent foreign fund selling. Nifty lost 233 points or 1% to close at 24,363 points on Friday. Selling in the domestic market intensified further on Friday as analysts and investors believe that once the stiff tariff penalty on Indian goods by the US comes into effect, India’s growth could be hit, Prashanth Tapse of Mehta Equities said. “While inflation is likely to go up next year, the likely impact on growth due to increased tariff penalty by US govt would hit investors’ sentiment badly and fuel fund outflows further.“Among the sensex stocks, Bharti Airtel was the top laggard with a 3.4% loss. Market players said a block deal had an impact on the stock price. Other top index losers were Tata Motors (-2.2%) and Kotak Bank (-2.1%). The day’s selling left investors poorer by Rs 4.7 lakh crore with BSE’s market cap at Rs 440.6 lakh crore.Gold Hits New High Gold futures in the US hit a record high on Friday amid uncertainty over whether country-specific US import tariffs would apply to the most commonly traded sizes of gold bars, Reuters reported. Dec US gold futures rose over 1% on Friday to hit a record $3,534 per ounce, when the Financial Times first reported the news.