New Delhi, Apr 7 (PTI) The Congress on Monday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the stock market crash, saying both he and US President Donald Trump are experts in giving their economies "self-inflicted wounds" and that markets are reacting predictably in a "tariffying" manner.

Stock market benchmark indices went into a tailspin in early trade on Monday, with the Sensex and Nifty crashing over 5 per cent, mirroring a sharp fall in global equities, after US President Trump's tariff hikes and retaliation from China fanned fears that a full-blown trade war will impact economic growth across the globe.

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The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex crashed 3,939.68 points or 5.22 per cent to 71,425.01 in early trade. The NSE Nifty tumbled 1,160.8 points or 5.06 per cent to 21,743.65.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "It is no wonder that Mr. Modi and Mr. Trump describe themselves as good friends. Both are experts in giving their economies self-inflicted wounds."

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"November 8, 2016 was demonetisation. April 2, 2025 was the bizarre reciprocal tariffs. Markets are reacting predictably in a tariffying manner," Ramesh said.

All the Sensex firms were trading in the negative territory. Tata Steel dropped over 8 per cent, followed by Tata Motors which cracked more than 7 per cent. HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Consultancy Services and Reliance Industries were the other big laggards.

In Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng tanked nearly 11 per cent, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 plunged nearly 7 per cent, Shanghai SSE Composite index dropped over 6 per cent and South Korea's Kospi index sank 5 per cent.

US markets ended sharply lower on Friday. The S&P 500 plummeted 5.97 per cent, Nasdaq composite slumped 5.82 per cent and the Dow tumbled 5.50 per cent on Friday.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)