Sensex Falls 700 Points As Markets Mourn Souring US-China Trade Tensions, Nifty Below 24,600

Stock Market Today: The Domestic stock market started on a subdued note on June 2, 2025, mirroring the weakness in global stock markets amid souring trade tensions between the US and China. US President Donald Trump accused China of violating its trade deal with the US, citing its hesitance to approve rare-earth exports. At 9:25 AM, the BSE Sensex traded 728.99 points, or 0.90 per cent lower at 80,722.02. Likewise, the NSE Nifty 50 quoted in the red at 24,559.50, down by 191.20 points or 0.77 per cent.

The broader market, however, traded mixed as the Nifty Midcap 100 quoted slightly above in the green, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 quoted marginally lower in the negative zone. The Nifty 500, which represents about 92.3 per cent of the free-float market cap of all the stocks listed on the NSE, also traded some 0.5 odd per cent lower.

Nifty IT Top Loser, FMCG and PSU Banks Emerge Saviours

On the sectoral front, barring FMCG and public sector banks, all other major sectoral indices traded under pressure. Nifty FMCG quoted 0.76 per cent higher and Nifty PSU Bank over 1.2 per cent up.

Nifty Realty traded back-and-forth in the red and green, while Nifty IT emerged as the biggest loser, falling over 1.3 per cent. Nifty Metal followed with losses of more than 1 per cent. Likewise, Nifty Auto, Nifty Pharma, Nifty Financial Services, Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Oil & Gas, and Nifty Consumer Durables traded in the red in the morning trade.

Nifty Bank, which tracks the performance of the top 12 banking stocks, too, traded lower by nearly 0.50 per cent, below the crucial 55,500 level.

Sensex, Nifty 50: Top Gainers & Losers

From Sensex, HCL Technologies, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Maruti Suzuki India, and Titan weighed on the index the most, while Adani Ports, Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra, Asian Paints, State Bank of India, and Nestle provided some support.

Among the Nifty 50 stocks, the biggest drags were Shriram Finance, Hero MotoCorp, JSW Steel, Bajaj Auto, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank. On the other hand, Apollo Hospitals, Adani Ports, Bharat Electronics, Hindustan Unilever, SBI Life Insurance, Nestle India and Adani Enterprises gained the most.

US-China Trade Tensions Sour, Markets Mourn

In the US, key indices ended largely unchanged on May 30 over renewed US-China trade tensions. Reports of potential new US sanctions on China, and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s remarks on trade uncertainties and bond market risks further weighed on sentiment.

The Dow Jones rose 54 points, or 0.13 per cent, to close at 42,270.07, while the S&P 500 ended nearly flat, slipping a meagre 0.48 points to settle at 5,911.69. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 62 points, or 0.32 per cent, to end at 19,113.77.

In Asia, markets opened on a cautious note on June 2, following Trump’s remarks against China, which reignited trade tensions between the two economies. 

Trump’s threat on May 30 to double tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum imports to 50 per cent from June, too, weighed on the sentiment. 

The markets in Asian countries are also feeling pressure, as investors await key US Jobs data and a likely interest rate cut in Europe.

The Hong Kong-based Hang Seng tumbled over 2.3 per cent in early trade. China’s SSE Composite was trading lower by around 0.50 per cent, and the SZSE Component was down by 0.85 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was trading 1.60 per cent lower and the broader Topix index quoted down by 1.20 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi initially gained up to 1 per cent, but soon pared gains to trade marginally in the red zone. The Australia-based ASX, too, reflected the subdued sentiment, trading lower by 0.30 per cent.