Benchmarks trim losses; Rain Inds tumbles 12%

The domestic equity barometers pared initial losses in morning trade. The Nifty was trading above the 16.400 mark. Banks shares declined across the board. The continued escalation of the Russia Ukraine conflict and its consequent global economic fallout weighed on investor sentiment.

At 10:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 676.56 points or 1.21% to 55,181.96. The Nifty 50 index lost 246.30 points or 1.48% to 16,412.10.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.83% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.59%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1165 shares rose and 1951 shares fell. A total of 163 shares were unchanged.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict:

Russia continued its advance into Ukraine over the weekend, with reports of fighting on the streets and forces encircling Kyiv. President Vladimir Putin on Sunday put his country`s deterrence forces, which reportedly include nuclear capabilities, on high alert in response to international backlash to Russia`s invasion.

Western nations agreed to unleash new sanctions to further isolate Russia`s economy and financial system after initial penalties failed to persuade President Vladimir Putin to withdraw his forces from Ukraine.

A decision to penalize Russia`s central bank and exclude some Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system was announced Saturday in a joint statement by the U.S., European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, U.K. and Canada. The agreement includes measures to prevent the Russian Central Bank from deploying its international reserves to undermine sanctions.

On the diplomatic front, representatives from the Ukraine and Russian governments have agreed to meet at the Ukraine-Belarus border with no preconditions, as per reports. Belarus, which shares a border with both Ukraine and Russia, has close ties with Moscow.

Economy:

Government has permitted up to 20% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) under automatic route in Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) with an aim to facilitate disinvestment of the country`s largest insurer.

Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) had mooted the proposal to allow FDI in LIC, after taking views from the Ministry of Finance. The much-awaited initial public offering, IPO of LIC is expected to hit the market in March and LIC`s employees and policyholders would get a discount over the floor price.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank index fell 2.04% to 35,687.50. The index had advanced 3.41% to end at 36,430.75 on Friday.

AU Small Finance Bank (down 2.90%), Axis Bank (down 2.72%), HDFC Bank (down 2.43%), IndusInd Bank (down 2.34%), Bandhan Bank (down 2.28%) and Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 1.89%) edged lower.

Further, IDFC First Bank (down 1.78%), ICICI Bank (down 1.70%), Punjab National Bank (down 1.41%), SBI (down 1.30%) and RBL Bank (down 1.20%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Rain Industries slumped 11.75% to Rs 175.80. The company posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 97 crore in Q4 December 2021 as compared to a net profit of Rs 307 crore registered in Q4 December 2020. Net sales jumped 52.5% to Rs 4,026 crore in Q4 December 2021 from Rs 2,640 crore posted in Q4 December 2020.

Clariant Chemicals shed 0.23% to Rs 483.40. The company announced that its chief financial officer Ashish Agarwal tendered his resignation with effect from 20 April 2022.

Fortis Healthcare rose 1.10% to Rs 244. CRISIL Ratings has upgraded its ratings on the bank facilities of the company to `CRISIL AA-/CRISIL A1+` from `CRISIL A+/CRISIL A1`.

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