Lagatar24 Desk
Mumbai, Feb 24: Indian equity indices fell dramatically on Thursday as investors were wary after Russia announced a military campaign in Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin of Russia has given the go-ahead for a special military operation in Ukraine’s Donbass region.
The benchmark BSE Sensex fell 1,936 points, or 3.38 percent, to 55,296 at 9:54 a.m., while the broader NSE Nifty fell 572 points, or 3.35 percent, to 16,491.
The Nikkei 225 index in Japan sank 2.17 percent, the KOSPI in South Korea fell 2.66 percent, and the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.89 percent.
In addition, as a result of the Ukraine situation, Brent oil rose to $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014.
Back home, mid- and small-cap stocks were down 2.65 percent and 3.06 percent, respectively, while the Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 2.65 percent and small-cap stocks down 3.06 percent.
The National Stock Exchange’s 15 sector indices were all in negative territory. The Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Auto indexes both underperformed the index, losing 3.20 percent and 2.71 percent, respectively.
On a stock-by-stock basis, Adani Ports was the leading Nifty loss, falling 3.50 per cent to Rs. 682. Among the laggards were Tata Motors, Tata Steel, UPL, and IndusInd Bank.
On the BSE, the overall market breadth was poor, with 270 shares rising and 2,378 falling.
Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, and SBI suffered the greatest losses on the 30-share BSE platform, with their shares falling as high as 3.96 percent.
On Wednesday, the Sensex fell 69 points, or 0.12%, to settle at 57,232, while the Nifty fell 29 points, or 0.17 percent, to 17,063.
