Metal Stocks Plunge on Trade War Fears: Tata Steel Down 11.5%

New Delhi, Apr 7 (PTI) Shares of metal firms were hit hard on Monday morning trade after US President Donald Trump's sweeping reciprocal tariffs fanned fears of a global trade war.

Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled over 5 per cent in early trade, in tandem with a sharp fall in global equities, after US President Donald Trump's tariff hikes and retaliation from China made investors jittery that a full-blown trade war will impact economic growth across the globe.

The stock of Tata Steel tanked 11.56 per cent, National Aluminium Company Ltd slumped 11.22 per cent, APL Apollo Tubes dived 10 per cent, SAIL declined 9.99 per cent, JSW Steel lost 9.92 per cent, and Jindal Stainless dropped 9.91 per cent on the BSE.

Shares of Hindustan Zinc sank 9.83 per cent, Hindalco Industries slumped 8.95 per cent, NMDC tumbled 8.48 per cent and Jindal Steel & Power (8.19 per cent).

The BSE metal index dropped 6.52 per cent to 26,594.09.

The steeper-than-expected reciprocal tariffs by the Trump Administration have fuelled recession fears and raised concerns over global economic growth, leading to a sharp slump in metal stocks.

Shares of metal companies had tanked more than 8 per cent on Friday.

"China decided to retaliate with a 34 per cent tariff on all US imports effective April 10, opting not to negotiate. Investors fear that the new tariffs imposed by Trump will weaken demand for industrial commodities. This could be worsened if impacted countries retaliate, leading to a global trade war," Sriram Iyer, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, said.