Bloodbath in Indian stocks as Sensex sheds about 1,200 points, investors gauge US policy after Trump inauguration

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 21 : Domestic stock markets on Tuesday witnessed a bloodbath, ending on a weak note due to the selling pressure in heavyweight stocks such as Kotak Bank, Zomato, RIL and US President Donald Trump's aggressive take on the trade tariffs on various countries.
At the close of today's trading, Nifty ended at 23,024.65, down 320.10 points or 1.37 per cent, while the Sensex was down at 1,235.08 points or 1.60 per cent, at 75,838.36.
During the day, around 1,019 shares advanced, 2,552 shares declined, and 79 shares remained unchanged.
At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), stocks of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Tata Consumers, BPCL, Shriram Finance, and JSW Steel emerged as the top gainers while the top losers included Trent, NTPC, ICICI Bank and Adani Ports.
On BSE, the midcap and smallcap indices shed 2 per cent each.
Among the sectoral indices, consumer durables and realty indices witnessed a decline of 4 per cent each, while banks, power, telecom, and capital goods were down 2 per cent each.
"Despite starting strong, the domestic markets ended the day negatively. Nervousness driven by Trump's uncertain tariff plan, a selloff triggered by foreign institutions, and disappointing Q3 earnings weighed on the market," said Ameya Ranadive, Senior Technical Analyst, StoxBox.
VLA Ambala, co-founder of Stock Market Today, said markets experienced a turbulent session as the US President reiterated his statement to hike tariffs for BRICS countries, including India.
In the context of the broader market, small-caps and mid-caps bled considerably more compared to the frontlines, led by disappointing earnings during the quarter.
The combination of these elements is well reflected in the VIX index, which recorded a six-month high during the day.
On a stock-specific note, Zomato declined by approximately 10 per cent on account of tepid earnings with a significant focus on weaker profitability.
The benchmark index began the trading session on a positive note. However, after reaching the day's high near 23,426, it quickly fell victim to selling pressure in the opening minutes, setting a bearish tone for the day.
The index experienced significant volatility and ultimately closed in the lower quartile of the trading range, accompanied by relatively high volume that led to the violation of support near 23,060.
The broader indices faced sharper declines than the benchmark index.