Equity benchmark Sensex fell over 600 points in opening session on Wednesday after selling in global equity markets amid rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Besides, higher international crude oil prices and unhindered outflow of foreign capital weighed on investor sentiments. The BSE gauge was trading 613.55 points or 1.09 per cent lower at 55,633.73 in early trade. Similarly, Nifty closed at 16,618.60, down 175.30 points or 1.04 per cent.
ICICI Bank was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, falling 3.46 per cent, followed by Asian Paints, Maruti, HDFC twins, Kotak Bank and UltraTech Cement. On the other hand, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance Industries, PowerGrid, NTPC and Tech Mahindra were among the gainers.
In the previous session, the 30-share BSE index had closed 388.76 points or 0.70 per cent higher at 56,247.28. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty jumped 135.50 points or 0.81 per cent to end at 16,793.90. The stock markets remained closed on Tuesday on the occasion of Mahashivratri.
In Asia, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai were trading with deep losses in mid-session deals. Stock exchanges in the US closed sharply lower in the overnight session.
International oil benchmark Brent crude rose 5.73 percent to $110.98 a barrel. The US and the European Union have imposed various sanctions on Russia. These include sanctions on Russia’s largest banks and the exclusion of its financial institutions from the SWIFT global payment system. However, they have allowed its oil and natural gas supplies to continue.
In the Indian capital markets, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets as they sold shares worth Rs 3,948.47 crore on Monday, according to stock exchange data.
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