Lagatar24 Desk
Mumbai, Mar 7: The Indian equity indices opened with a massive gap down on Monday, owing to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Crude prices rose and global stock markets plummeted as the threat of a U.S. and European oil embargo, as well as delays in Iranian talks, ignited what was shaping up to be a massive stagflationary shock for global markets.
As the Russian-Ukraine crisis showed no signs of abating, commodities of all kinds were on the rise. As investors flocked to safe-haven assets, gold touched a critical threshold of $2,000 per ounce. Oil prices soared beyond $130 a barrel, reaching their highest level since 2008.
Back home, the benchmark BSE Sensex was down 1,630 points, or 3 percent, at 52,703 as of 10:17 a.m., while the broader NSE Nifty was down 459.95 points, or 2.83 percent, at 15,785.
Mid- and small-cap stocks were trading lower, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index falling 2.62 percent and small-cap stocks falling 2.41 percent.
The majority of the sector indices compiled by the National Stock Exchange were in negative territory. In early trade, Nifty Auto and Nifty Bank both underperformed the index, falling as high as 4.38 percent and 3.69 percent, respectively. Nifty Metal, on the other hand, increased by 0.47 percent.
On a stock-by-stock basis, Maruti Suzuki India was the worst performer on the Nifty, falling 5.59 percent to Rs. 6,842.35. The laggards were Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Eicher Motors, and M&M.
On the BSE, the overall market breadth was poor, with 572 shares rising and 2,043 falling.
Maruti, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, L&T, UltraTech Cement, and M&M were among the top losers on the 30-share BSE index. Tata Steel, on the other hand, was in the black.
On Friday, the Sensex fell 769 points, or 1.40 percent, to close at 54,334; while the Nifty fell 253 points, or 1.53 percent, to settle at 16,245.
