Sensex Tanks 1,113 Points, Nifty Below 16,900 Amid Ukraine-Russia Crisis

The midcap and smallcap shares were also trading on a negative note as Nifty Midcap 100 index moved 1.56 per cent lower and small-cap shares shed 1.78 per cent

New Delhi: The key benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, on Tuesday plunged sharply amid weak global sentiments due to simmering tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

At 9.45 am, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 1,113 points to 56,569, while the NSE Nifty was at 16,864, down 342 points. All the 30 constituents on the Sensex platform were in the red, led by losses in Dr Reddys, Asian Paints, TCS, L&T, IndusInd Bank, HDFC twins, Bajaj Finserv, down 2-3 per cent.

On the Nifty, ONGC was the sole gainer, up 1.3 per cent, while UPL was the additional loser. ONGC was firmly higher as crude oil prices have again jumped higher on the worsening Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"Escalations in Ukraine tensions with Russia recognising two pro-Russian rebel regions have aggravated the crisis. The economic consequences are already visible in higher crude and gold prices," V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services, told PTI.  

The midcap and smallcap shares were also trading on a negative note as Nifty Midcap 100 index moved 1.56 per cent lower and small-cap shares shed 1.78 per cent.

All the 15 sector gauges, compiled by the National Stock Exchange, were trading in the negative zone. Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty were underperforming the index by falling as much as 2.59 per cent and 2.03 per cent, respectively.

The India VIX index also climbed 19 per cent to over 27-levels.

In the previous session, Sensex had dropped 149 points to close at 57,684 on Monday; while Nifty had settled 70 points lower at 17,207.

Asian share markets also slumped as Japan’s Nikkei fell 2.34 per cent, South Korea’s KOSPI was down 1.72 per cent and the Shanghai Composite index dropped 1.36 per cent.

Meanwhile, rising for the fifth straight day, the rupee extended gains by 11 paise to close at a one-month high of 74.55 against the US dollar on Monday on the back of a weak dollar and softer crude oil prices amid hopes of a diplomatic solution to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Tracking the Ukraine crisis, Brent crude futures rose 4 per cent to $97.35, the highest since September 2014. US stocks fell over 2 per cent on Tuesday.