The Indian market continued to fall as the benchmarks opened negative for the 5th day in a row amid escalating tension between Russia and Ukraine. The broader Nifty50 slipped below 17,900 while the Sensex declined nearly 1200 points in the opening trade as Ukraine stood on the brink of war after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine. 

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The two indices opened at16,847.95 and 56,438.64 respectively.  ONGC was the lone gainer on Nifty and the Sensex and all other stocks declined on the two indices.

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"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. The situation remains fluid; we don't know whether the tensions will escalate or be contained from now on. The biggest macro headwind for India is crude racing to $97," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. 

He said inflationary consequence of this will force the RBI to abandon its dovish monetary stance.  

"Globally stock markets have turned weak. Buying opportunities may emerge in this correction. But investors need not rush-in to buy. The situation is fluid. FIIs are likely to continue selling. This will continue to depress the prices of some high-quality financials. Nibbling in this segment can be considered," he added.  

Earlier in the pre-open, 29 stocks on the Sensex turned negative as the 30-share index declined by nearly 1250 points.  

Global cues remained weak with SGX Nifty Futures too declining over 250 points or 1.47% to 16,952.50 on the Singaporean Exchange around 9.10 am on Tuesday.