Why did Sensex and Nifty close in the red for the 4th consecutive session today?

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed in the red today, marking the fourth consecutive session of decline. While Sensex closed nearly 550 points or 0.70% lower at 77,311.80, Nifty ended over 178 points or 0.76% lower at 23,381.60.

US President Donald Trump announced plans to impose 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports. This not only escalated trade tensions, which further increased skepticism among traders on global commodity prices. He also hinted that US may impose reciprocal tariffs on countries that tax US imports, following his earlier order to impose similar taxes on China, Mexico and Canada. He'd imposed temporary pause on the taxes imposed on China and Mexico.

The Indian rupee also depreciated 45 paise to a record low of 87.85 against the US dollar, days after it had crossed the 87 mark against the greenback for the first time ever. This was primarily because the dollar strengthened, rising to 108 on the dollar index, over Trump's tariff announcement.