Nifty Seen Opening Lower; Investors Focus On Tensions Between Russia, Ukraine

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open sharply lower as indicated by Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange as rising geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and Russia kept investors on tenterhooks worldwide. Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange also known as SGX Nifty Futures fell 0.58 per cent or 101 points to 17,179. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.7 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.55 per cent, Singapore Straits Times declined 0.05 per cent and South Korea's KOSPI slipped 0.53 per cent.

Joint military exercise by Russia and Belarus defence forces over the weekend flared up speculations that Russia could invade Ukraine sooner than anticipated. However, the situation calmed a bit after US President Joe Biden agreed “in principle” to a meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin as long as that country holds off on what U.S. officials believe is an imminent assault on Ukraine.

Following this news US stock futures rallied with Nasdaq futures rising 0.43 per cent, Dow futures up 0.5 per cent and S&P 50 futures advancing 0.6 per cent.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the administration has been clear that “we are committed to pursuing diplomacy until the moment an invasion begins.” U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are set to meet on Thursday in Europe as long as a further invasion doesn’t occur, news agency AP reported.

In a statement, Psaki said: “We are always ready for diplomacy. We are also ready to impose swift and severe consequences should Russia instead choose war. And currently, Russia appears to be continuing preparations for a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon.”

Back home, foreign institutional investors remained sold shares worth Rs 2,530 crore while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 1,929 crore on Friday. The FIIs have so far this month sold shares worth Rs 15,342 crore, data from National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) showed.

Stocks In Focus: IndiGo, HDFC Bank, GPIL

Interglobe Aviation will be in focus after its co-founder Rakesh Gangwal resigned from board of directors of the airline with immediate effect as he looks to reduce stake in the company gradually.

HDFC Bank will be in focus after Shrikanth Nadhamuni resigned from the board of directors citing potential future transactions/arrangements which may materialize between the Bank and a company in which Nadhamuni may be interested in.

Godawari Power and Ispat will be on investors' radar after board gave nod to sell its entire stake in Godawari Green Energy to Virescent Renewable Energy Trust, an Infrastructure Investment Trust for Rs 665 crore.