Nifty Seen Opening Below 16,000 As Russia-Ukraine War Intensifies

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open sharply lower on Monday as indicated by the Nifty Futures traded on Singapore Exchange. Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange also known as SGX Nifty Futures fell 2.78 per cent or 452 points to 15,792 amid weak global cues. The price of oil jumped more than $10 a barrel and shares were sharply lower Monday as the conflict in Ukraine deepened amid mounting calls for harsher sanctions against Russia.

Brent crude oil surged over $10 early Monday. Benchmark U.S. crude was up nearly $9 at more than $124 a barrel.

The surge followed a warning from Russian President Vladimir Putin that Ukrainian statehood was imperiled as Russian forces battered strategic locations. A temporary cease-fire in two Ukrainian cities failed over the weekend — and both sides blamed each other.

Brent crude, the international standard, hit $139.13 per barrel before falling back. It was trading up $10.56 at $128.67 a barrel.

U.S. futures fell, with the contract for the benchmark S&P 500 down 1.6 per cent and that for the Dow industrials falling 1.3 per cent.

Higher fuel costs are devastating for Japan, which imports almost all its energy. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dipped 3.5 per cent in morning trading to 25,091.93.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 4.0 per cent to 21,021.38, while South Korea’s Kospi dived 2.5 per cent to 2,648.48. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.2 per cent to 7,023.10. while the Shanghai Composite lost nearly 0.8 per cent to 3,421.81.

Back home, foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 7,631 crore on Friday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 4,739 crore.