Key benchmark indices opened in deep-red territory amid geopolitical uncertainties. The BSE Sensex benchmark plunged below the 53,000-mark for the first time in seven months. At 09:16 IST, the Sensex was down 1,326.62 points or 2.44 per cent at 53007.19, and the Nifty was down 357.40 points or 2.20 per cent at 15888. About 561 shares have advanced, 1588 shares declined, and 121 shares are unchanged.
Except for Tata Steel, all other stocks on the BSE Sensex were in red in the early trade. ICICI Bank, Maruti, Bajaj Finance, L&T, and Asian Paints (down up to 5 per cent) were the top laggards in the Sensex pack. The losses were spread across the broader markets with the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices slipping 2.3 per cent each.Sectorally, Nifty Bank, Auto and Realty indices cracked 4 per cent each. Nifty IT was down 1.6 per cent, while Nifty Metals was the only outlier in green, holding marginal gains. Among stocks, JK Cement was trading 5 per cent lower on the bourses. The company had announced its foray into paints business through a new subsidiary.
VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said: “Market is slipping into bearish territory. Investors have to be cautious. There is relative safety in energy due to high energy prices, metals due to high global prices and export segments due to resilient demand and rupee depreciation.”
Indian rupee (INR) fell sharply today against the US dollar (USD) amid a spike in oil prices. The rupee fell to all-time low of 76.96 against the US dollar. Rupee had closed at 76.17 per US dollar on Friday.
Crude Oil Prices Soar
Crude oil prices soared to their highest since 2008 due to delays in the potential return of Iranian crude to global markets and as the United States and European allies consider banning imports of Russian oil. Brent rose $11.67, or 9.9 per cent, to $129.78 a barrel by 6:50 p.m. EST (2350 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $10.83, or 9.4 per cent, to $126.51, putting both contracts on track for their highest daily percentage gains since May 2020.
Global Cues
Tokyo’s key Nikkei index dropped three percent in morning trade Monday on concern over the war in Ukraine and as crude oil prices neared an all-time high. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index tumbled 3.03 per cent or 787.97 points to 25,197.50, while the broader Topix index fell 2.91 per cent or 53.69 points to 1,791.25. The Hang Seng Index dived 3.59 percent, or 787.13 points, to 21,118.16. The losses mirrored hefty selling across Asian markets, with no let-up in Russia’s invasion of its neighbour, which has sent the price of commodities soaring to record or multi-year highs.
Wall Street stocks fell Friday as an increasingly grim picture of the Russia invasion of Ukraine took attention away from good US employment data. All three major indices finished the week with losses, with the broad-based S&P 500 ending at 4,328.87, down 0.8 per cent for the day and 1.3 per cent for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5 per cent Friday to finish at 33,614.80, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.7 per cent to 13,313.44.
