Markets nosedive amid weak cues; Sensex near 57,325, Nifty 50 around 17,120; IT, Metals, Consumer Durables, Oil stocks worst hit; Titan, TCS, M-;M top bears

21 Feb 2022 , 10:25 AM

Indian markets nosedived on Monday tracking weakness in global markets as Russian-Ukraine tension continues to mount which has led investors to resort to haven assets like bonds and gold. At home, small-cap stocks underperformed along with large caps. 

While huge selloff in IT, banking, consumer durables, metal and oil & gas stocks pushed benchmarks Sensex and Nifty 50 off the cliff. Sensex has dipped to as much as below 57,200 and Nifty 50 even erased 17,100-level.

This week markets are expected to run in a volatile session ahead of F&O expiry on Thursday. 

At around 10.25 am, Sensex was trading at 57,322.11 below 510.86 points or 0.88%. Nifty 50 performed at 17,121.45 lower by 154.85 points or 0.9%.

On the broader basket, on BSE, the SmallCap dived over 510 points and the Sensex Next 50 slipped above 665 points.

In terms of sectoral indices, on BSE, the Consumer Durables index shed nearly 665 points, while the Metal and Oil & Gas tumbled around 315 points and 355 points. The IT index dipped nearly 430 points.

IndusInd Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Power Grid and ICICI Bank were top gainers on Sensex.

Titan, TCS, M&M, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, L&T, SBI, Asian Paint, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance and Axis Bank plunged between 1-2.5%.

On the global front, Asian stocks were in red except for Australia’s ASX. US futures also dropped as bonds yields picked momentum. Most other Asian markets will take cues from the constant rhetoric over Russia/Ukraine and the effect of diplomatic solutions to end the tussle by most European partners. Chinese stocks could be good contrarian plays as they are relatively secluded from the present imbroglio and offer a good opportunity on very reasonable valuations.

Overnight, on Wall Street, US markets see the worst week of the year as geopolitical risk sees Dow Jones fall another 200 points on Friday with Nasdaq also losing over 168 points. Bond yields trade near 1.92% even as the US$ index traded @ 96, while oil prices rebounded from Friday’s lows to trade near US$92. Futures trade higher as French President has a positive dialogue with Russian President for further summit talks this week.