Indian equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty on Thursday
lost all early gains to settle lower as rising oil prices amid the ongoing
conflict between Russia and Ukraine impact investor sentiment.

The 30-scrip BSE Sensex open the trade on a higher note
and jumped 527.72 points in the morning trade to a high of 55,996.62. However,
during the afternoon trade, it gave up all its early gains and closed at
55,102.68, down by 366.22 points of 0.66%. Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty
declined 107.90 points or 0.65% to close at 16,498.05.

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Among sectoral indices, auto, capital goods and bank fell 1-2%, while FMCG and realty fell 0.5% each. However, metal, IT, oil & gas, power indices jumped 1-2%. BSE midcap index dropped 0.6% and smallcap index rose 0.35%.

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Domestic equity markets ended lower as the geopolitical
scenario continue to worsen due to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Surging crude
prices due to supply disruptions from Russian sanctions have further escalated
the situation, said Mitul Shah, Head of Research at Reliance Securities.

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The top loser in the Sensex pack was Ultratech Cement,
down by 6.47%, followed by Asian Paints down by 5.20%, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories
down by 3.49%, Maruti Suzuki India by 2.76%, Hindustan Unilever Limited down by
2.65% and ICICI Bank down by 2.29%.

Among the top gainers were PowerGrid up by 3.34%, Wipro
up by 2.58%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.43%, HCL Technologies Limited up by 2.08%
and ITC up by 1.90%.

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Global oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 2.75% to USD
116.03 per barrel.

Asian market bourses in Hong Kong and Tokyo ended with
gains, while Shanghai was marginally down. Stock exchanges in the US ended in
green in the Wednesday session.

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According to stock exchange data, foreign institutional
investors continued their selling spree in Indian markets as they offloaded shares
worth Rs 4,338.94 crore on a net basis on Wednesday.