Sensex slips over 30 points as Asian shares skid on escalating trade war concerns

Indian stock markets opened on a lower note on Monday following weak Asian peers after trade war concerns escalated between two major global economies. The BSE Sensex slipped 38.51 points to a low of 35,585.73 points during early trade. The Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange fell around 10 points. Out of 1,166 trading companies on the BSE, 558 advanced as compared to 556 declines indicating a slightly bullish trend in the market.

Shares of Vedanta tanked over 3 per cent on the BSE, followed by Kotak Bank, Tata Steel, Coal India, Hero MotoCorp and HDFC as the losers. Among the gainers were ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra. Among the sectoral indices, the S&P BSE metals index dipped by 152.67 points, while oil and gas, auto IT capital goods indices traded with gains. The NSE Bank Nifty edged lower by 0.05 per cent.

On Monday, Asian shares fell on growing global trade spat concerns after US President Donald Trump went ahead with tariffs on Chinese imports, prompting Beijing to immediately respond in kind, Reuters reported. Financial markets in China and Hong Kong were closed for Dragon Boat festival holiday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slid 0.4 per cent, South Korea’s Kospi index slipped 0.5 per cent while Australian shares eased 0.1 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei sank 0.9 per cent.

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National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE)