Indian Shares Tumble On Tariff Tensions

(RTTNews) - Indian shares tumbled on Tuesday, with benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty falling for a second straight session amid rising geopolitical and tariff tensions.

Continued foreign fund outflows and valuation concerns also weighed on investors' risk appetite.

Global sentiment was fragile as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats left investors worried about exposure to U.S. assets.

Trump intensified his rhetoric on Greenland, insisting the U.S. needs the Arctic Island for national security reasons.

The United States deployed military aircraft to Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, prompting Denmark to rush its Army chief and troops to the Arctic Island in a dramatic escalation of tensions.

In a text message exchange with the Norwegian prime minister, Trump linked his Nobel Peace Prize snub to his plans to acquire Greenland and claimed that the world is not secure unless the U.S. has complete and total control of Greenland.

Trump also threatened to impose 200 percent tariffs on French wine and champagne after French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly refused joining his "Board of Peace" on Gaza.

European Union leaders will hold an emergency meeting in Brussels on Thursday to decide how to respond to Trump's threat to impose new tariffs on several European countries.

The European Union stated that its preference was to "engage not escalate", but warned it was prepared to act.

The BSE Sensex slumped 1,065.71 points, or 1.28 percent, to 82,180.47 while the broader NSE Nifty index ended down 353 points, or 1.38 percent, at 25,232.50.

The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes lost 2.5 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. The market breadth was extremely negative on the BSE, with 3,499 shares falling while 783 shares advanced and 120 shares closed unchanged.

Selling was seen across the board, with UltraTech Cement, Tech Mahindra, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Bajaj FinServ, Mahindra & Mahindra, Asian Paints, Trent, Indigo, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance and Eternal falling 2-4 percent.