Sensex, Nifty Stare At Gap-down Open After Wall St Meltdown

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may follow global peers lower on Monday as tariff woes and fears of a recession weighed on risk assets, wiping out nearly $6 trillion in value from U.S. stocks last week.

Energy-related stocks may be in focus after the price of crude oil extended losses after plummeting to its lowest levels in over three years on demand concerns.

Asian markets were deep in the red, with benchmark indexes in Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Japan falling 4-9 percent.

U.S. stock futures opened sharply lower late on Sunday as White House officials showed no sign of backing away from their sweeping tariff plans.

Investors piled into safe haven assets such as bonds, the Swiss franc and the Japanese yen amid increasing fears of inflation and recession.

A rally in U.S. government debt sent the U.S. two-year yield to touch the lowest since 2022.

Copper fell more than percent and gold plunged to a 3-1/2-week low below $3,050 per ounce, while oil extended last week's steep losses to hit a four-year low as Saudi Arabia slashed its flagship crude price by the most in more than two years.

U.S. stock market turmoil deepened on Friday as China hit back at tariffs announced by President Donald Trump, raising the likelihood of an extended trade war that could cut into corporate profits and stall economic growth.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in remarks at a business journalist conference that it is becoming clear that the tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected and the same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth.

He, however indicated the central bank will wait for greater clarity before considering any adjustments to interest rates.

The S&P 500 plummeted 6 percent, capping the worst week for the U.S. stock market since the early days of the Covid pandemic in March 2020 and reaching an 11-month closing low.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 5.8 percent to enter a bear market. The Dow tumbled 5.5 percent, putting its two-day decline at nearly 4,000 points.

European stocks plunged to fresh multi-month lows on Friday as China announced 34 percent tariffs on all U.S. imports in reaction to U.S. President Trump's new levies and also unveiled other measures to restrict U.S. trade.

The pan European STOXX 600 slumped 5.1 percent and confirmed correction territory.

The FTSE 100 plunged almost 5 percent, marking its steepest fall in five years. The German DAX lost 5 percent and France's CAC 40 shed 4.3 percent.