New Delhi, April 7 -- Chinese stocks nosedived sharply on Monday after Beijing slapped back at the US with retaliatory tariffs, sparking fears of a persistent trade war between two major economies.

At the time of filing this report, the Hang Seng Index was about 12 percent lower, and the Shanghai Composite Index was about 8 percent lower. If sustained, these would make for the benchmark's largest daily fall since the 2008 global financial crisis, according to reports.

According to a Reuters report, shares in online giants Alibaba and Tencent were down more than 10 percent.

Hong Kong-listed shares of HSBC tumbled 13 per cent to head for their largest daily fall since 2009, and Standard Chartered stock was down more than 16 per cent, on ...