Sensex Crashes 2,700 Points, Posts Worst Day In Nearly Two Years After Russia Invades Ukraine

The Indian equity markets crashed and posted their biggest single day fall since March 9, 2020 on Thursday mirroring after Russia President Vladmir Putin ordered military action in Ukraine. The Sensex dropped as much as 4.98 per cent or 2,849 points and Nifty 50 index crashed 5 per cent or 860 points to hit an intraday low of 16,203.

The Nifty 50 index dropped 815 points or 4.78 per cent to close at 16,248 and 30-share Sensex dropped 2,702 points or 4.72 per cent to settle at 54,530.

Stocks plunged and oil prices surged by more than $5 per barrel Thursday after President Vladimir Putin launched military action in Ukraine, prompting Washington and Europe to vow sanctions on Moscow that may roil the global economy.

Market benchmarks in Europe and Asia fell by as much as 4 per cent as traders tried to figure out how large Putin’s incursion would be and the scale of Western retaliation. Wall Street futures retreated by an unusually wide daily margin of 2.5 per cent.

Benchmarks in Russia dropped as much as 50 per cent in their worst day since inception.

“The market has gone down as investors weigh the impact of Russia Ukraine crisis. Russia has launched a military action targeting the military infrastructure of Ukraine and it may lead to a larger scale invasion of Ukraine with the risk of USA and Europe getting embroiled militarily as well. Additionally, the price of oil crossed US$100 per barrel mark stoking inflation fears in oil importing countries like India. The economies around the world are still recovering from COVID pandemic and can’t afford the consequences of this war,” said Mohit Ralhan, Managing Partner at TIW Capital Group.

Back home, selling pressure was so intense on Thursday that all the 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchanges ended lower with the gauge of state-run banking shares - Nifty PSU Bank index crashing 8.3 per cent. Nifty Realty, Private Bank, Bank, Metal, Financial Services and IT indices also fell between 5-7 per cent.

Mid- and small-cap shares also faced selling pressure as Nifty Midcap 100 index dropped 5.74 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index tumbled 6.25 per cent.

All the Nifty 50 shares ended lower. Tata Motors was top Nifty loser, the stock tanked 11 per cent to close at Rs 425. IndusInd Bank, UPL, Grasim Industries, JSW Steel, Adani Ports, Baharat Petroleum, Tata Consumer Products and Hero MotoCorp also fell between 6-8 per cent.

The overall market breadth was extremely bearish as 3,159 shares ended lower while 233 managed to close higher on the BSE.