Stock market midday report: Sensex down 2,226 points, Nifty around 16,500

Bears continued to outnumber bulls on Dalal Street, with the Sensex and Nifty trading below critical levels of 55,600 (Sensex) and 16,600 (Nifty), respectively, as traders assess the implications of the Russia-Ukraine situation. Sentiment has also been harmed since the price of oil surpassed $100 per barrel, causing inflationary worries in oil-importing nations such as India. 

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Back home, traders quashed reports that Moody’s Investors Service upgraded India’s GDP prediction to 9.5% for the calendar year 2022 and 8.4% for the fiscal year beginning April 1, despite citing high oil prices and supply disruptions as a drag on growth.

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On the global front, all the Asian markets are trading in red with Nikkei 225 slipped 478.79 points or 1.81% to 25,970.82, Straits Times fell 106.28 points or 3.13% to 3,286.72, Hang Seng plunged 792.93 points or 3.35% to 22,867.35, Taiwan Weighted declined 461.18 points or 2.55% to 17,594.55, KOSPI lost 70.73 points or 2.60% to 2,648.80, Jakarta Composite dropped 133.32 points or 1.93% to 6,786.74 and Shanghai Composite was down by 87.47 points or 2.51% to 3,401.68.

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The Sensex is now trading at 55,192.3, down 2,226.15 points or 3.87% after fluctuating between 55,147.73 and 55,996.09. On the index, all 30 stocks dropped.

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The broader indices were trading in red with the BSE Midcap index tumbling 3.79%, while the Small cap index was down by 3.81%. The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom down by 5.20%, Realty down by 4.60%, Auto down by 3.78%, Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services down by 3.63% and Industrials was down by 3.59%, while there were no gainers on the BSE sectoral front.

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The top losers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank down by 6.08%, Tech Mahindra down by 4.38%, Asian Paints down by 4.16%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 4.02% and Bharti Airtel down by 4.02%, while there were no gainers on the Sensex.

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The Nifty is presently trading at 16,567.35, down 495.90 points or 2.91% after fluctuating between 16,453.65 and 16,705.25. On the index, there was one stock that advanced and 49 stocks that declined.

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The lone gainer on Nifty was Hindalco up by 0.65%, while Tata Motors down by 6.60%, Indusind Bank down by 6.23%, Hero MotoCorp down by 5.58%, Adani Ports down by 5.25% and Grasim Industries down by 5.12% were the top losers.