Nifty Media, S&P BSE Oil & Gas top losers on NSE, BSE this week; Russia-Ukraine row, macro data key triggers for next week, says analyst

The Indian markets closed in the red four out of five sessions this week, with the benchmarks correcting as much as 5% in a single trading session on Thursday after Russia launched surprise military offensive against Ukraine. Overall, since February 16, the markets ended negative seven sessions in a row, before staging a comeback on Friday on the back of positive global cues.

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Barometer Nifty and the Sensex gained 2.5% and 2.4% respectively, countering to the exaggerated reaction the markets showed on Thursday, anticipating fully blown out armed conflict between NATO and Russia.

Realty, metal, auto and PSU Bank played the pivotal role in the benchmarks performance on Friday even as Nifty midcap and small cap indices too gained 4.18% and 4.84% respectively in an attempt to recoup Thursday's losses.

Finding support from the Friday’s closing, benchmarks Nifty50 and the S&P BSE managed to narrow down the losses as they settled with 3.6% and 3.4% cuts respectively for the week closing February 25, 2022.

“The bounce back in the markets being seen today is a counter to the exaggerated reaction we saw yesterday led by the fears of fully blown out armed conflict between NATO and Russia. It was further compounded by the fact that yesterday was also the monthly FNO expiry,” said Nitin Raheja, Executive Director, Head – Discretionary Equities, Julius Baer.

However, as it became obvious that NATO countries have no desire for an armed conflict and would rather use the path of sanctions the risk perception has lowered marginally globally, said Raheja.

How NSE, BSE indices fared this week?

Among the indices on the BSE and NSE, with 6.5% cut, S&P BSE Oil & Gas and Nifty Media with 7.7% drop declined the most this week.

S&P BSE Energy (6%), S&P BSE Telecom (5.4%), S&P BSE Dividend Stability Index (5%) and S&P BSE 250 Small Cap (4.9%) were other top losers on the BSE this week.

On the NSE, for the week ended February 28, the Nifty Small Cap declined 6.1%, Nifty PSU Bank dropped 5.7%, Nifty Small Cap 100 witnessed a cut of 5.3% and Nifty infrastructure settled with 4.9% loss in the last five trading sessions.

"Russia’s Ukraine invasion was a big surprise for the world market, as it was not anticipating a war resulting in a bloodbath on the global bourses. Though the market was volatile initially it was expecting a diplomatic end to the crisis. Crude oil prices rising to $100 per barrel and existing elevated inflation further worsened sentiments. As global tension increased, FIIs continued to offload holdings adding to more volatility in Indian equities.” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Triggers for next week

He said going ahead investors will continue to remain cautious by keenly watching the developments in the Russia-Ukraine war. In such a volatile market, a prudent approach is to have a balanced portfolio with a mix of equity, debt, gold, and cash, says Nair.

“It is also a busy week in terms of the release of macroeconomic data points like domestic GDP and Manufacturing & Production PMI data," he added

(Disclaimer: The views/suggestions/advices expressed here in this article is solely by investment experts. Zee Business suggests its readers to consult with their investment advisers before making any financial decision.)