Twenty nine out of 30 shares in the Sensex ended higher led by Tata Steel's over 5% decline. HDFC, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Maruti Suzuki also fell between 4-5% each
The Indian equity benchmarks posted their worst single day performance since April 12, 2021 as rising geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine triggered a selloff in equities across the globe and left oil prices surging to multiyear highs. The Sensex dropped as much as 1,857 points at the day's lowest level and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday low of 16,809.
The Sensex fell 1,747 points or 3 per cent to close at 56,405.84 and Nifty 50 index dropped 532 points or 3.15 per cent to settle 16,843.
“The volatility has gone up with the increase in uncertainty over tensions between Russia and Ukraine. The market is under downward pressure due to the looming threat of war. It is likely to have a short-term impact since the risk of actual elongated war between two nuclear powers is quite limited. It is expected that the tensions will get dissipated through geopolitical manoeuvres over next few weeks, but market volatility will be high during this period,” said Mohit Ralhan, managing partner at TIW Capital Group.
The United States on Sunday said Russia might create a surprise pretext for an attack, as it reaffirmed a pledge to defend "every inch" of NATO territory, news agency Reuters reported.
Global markets were jittery before the geo-political tensions between Ukraine and Russia escalated as inflation in US jumped to four-decade high raising speculation that US Fed might raise rates at a faster pace than anticipated.
Selling pressure was so intense during the session as all the 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended sharply lower led by the Nifty PSU Bank index's nearly 6 per cent fall. Nifty Realty, Metal, Private Bank, Bank and Financial Services indices also tumbled between 4-5 per cent.
Mid- and small-cap shares also selling pressure as Nifty Midcap 100 index tumbled 4 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index dropped 4.5 per cent.
JSW Steel was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 6.5 per cent to close at Rs 628. HDFC Life, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, HDFC, Shree Cements, State Bank of India, UPL, ICICI Bank and IndusInd Bank also fell between 4.6-6.4 per cent.
On the flipside, Tata Consultancy Services the only gainer in the Nifty 50 basket of shares.
The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 2,984 shares ended lower while 567 closed higher on the BSE.