The market remained volatile through the afternoon, with Sensex still down 4.25 per cent and Nifty trading 4.54 per cent lower. All 30 constituents of the Sensex were in the red, with Tata Steel plummeting over 9 per cent, followed by Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys, and ICICI Bank among other major laggards.

Asian indices mirrored the carnage, as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slumped over 12 per cent, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 plunged nearly 8 per cent, and Shanghai Composite and South Korea’s Kospi dropped around 8 and 5 per cent respectively. US indices closed last week with significant losses—the S&P 500 fell 5.97 per cent, Nasdaq declined 5.82 per cent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 5.50 per cent.

The global downturn is attributed to heightened trade tensions after US President Donald Trump hiked tariffs and China retaliated with 34 per cent duties on all American imports effective April 10. Analysts warned that the aggressive tariff measures could stoke inflation, curb global economic growth, and possibly tip several economies into recession.

Reliance Securities' Head of Research, Vikas Jain, said the developments raise the stakes in the ongoing trade war and have sparked fresh fears of a worldwide slowdown. Broader market indices in India also faced steep losses, with the BSE small-cap index plunging 5.78 per cent and the mid-cap index dropping 4.52 per cent.

All sectoral indices on the BSE were in negative territory—metal stocks crashed over 7 per cent, while industrials, commodities, IT, and tech-related indices saw declines of 4 to 6 per cent. Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 3,483.98 crore on Friday, and Brent crude prices slipped nearly 3 per cent to USD 63.51 per barrel, adding to the global anxiety.