The Indian stock market benchmark indexes, Sensex and Nifty 50, are poised to open sharply lower on Monday, as concerns over a global trade war and growing recession fears in the US triggered a rout in equities around the economies.

Asian markets tanked, while Wall Street crashed last week, with the US stock futures showing extended sell-off, as concerns over a potential recession in the world’s largest economy intensified after harsher-than-expected tariffs by President Donald Trump.

Here’s what Gift Nifty and trends in Asian markets indicate for the Indian stock market today:

Gift Nifty Today

The trends on Gift Nifty indicate a gap-down start for the Indian benchmark index. The Gift Nifty was trading around 22,083 level, a discount of nearly 875 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close.

Gift Nifty signals that the benchmark Nifty 50 may open more than 3% lower today, indicating a Black Monday for the equity markets.

Asian Markets Today

Asian markets tumbled on Monday, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index falling 6.5%, as fears of a recession in the US intensified following Trump’s stricter-than-expected tariffs. Investor sentiment was further undermined by China’s retaliatory response, which included additional levies on US imports.

US equity futures signaled continued weakness, with S&P 500 futures down 4.2%, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures falling 3.5%, and Nasdaq futures tumbling 5.3%

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index plunged as much as 8.8% to a 1.5-year low. Nikkei traded 7.3% lower with all 225 constituents of the index in negative territory. The broader Topix index also suffered steep losses, declining 8%. Trading in Japanese futures was temporarily halted earlier in the session after the market triggered circuit breakers.

Chinese markets and Hong Kong stocks suffered heavy losses amid concerns of a trade war. The CSI300 blue-chip index in China dropped 4.5%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 8% in early trade.

South Korean Kospi index fell over 4%, and the Kosdaq slipped more than 3%. Singapore’s benchmark index opened 7% lower and was on track for its worst single-day performance since March 2020, Reuters reported.

Malaysian equities fell over 4%, hitting their lowest level in 16 months. Taiwan’s market plunged nearly 10% on its first trading session since the latest US tariff announcement.

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