Markets lost all of their early gains in afternoon trade, as traders chose to book profits amid geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Traders were particularly concerned after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that the central bank will begin hiking interest rates this month, despite the uncertainty caused by the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

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On the global front, all Asian markets were trading higher with Taiwan Weighted strengthened 66.80 points or 0.37% to 17,934.40, Shanghai Composite gained 1.81 points or 0.05% to 3,486.00, KOSPI rose 43.61 points or 1.61% to 2,747.13, Nikkei 225 surged 184.24 points or 0.7% to 26,577.27, Straits Times advanced 24.26 points or 0.75% to 3,268.66 and Hang Seng was up 112.74 points or 0.5% to 22,456.66.

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Sensex is currently trading at 55,409.79, down by 59.11 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 55,344.32 and 55,996.62. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index.

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The broader indices were trading in green with the BSE Midcap index rising 0.12%, while the Small-cap index up by 0.76%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 2.37%, Power up by 2.33%, IT up by 1.78%, TECK up by 1.51% and Metal was up by 1.50%, while Auto down by 0.70%, Consumer Durables down by 0.42%, Bankex down by 0.37%, Consumer Discretionary down by 0.30% and FMCG was down by 0.04% were the top losing indices on BSE.

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The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 3.56%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.10%, HCL Tech. up by 2.96%, Power Grid up by 2.82% and Tata Steel was up by 2.18%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.60%, Ultratech Cement down by 3.23%, Dr Reddy’s Lab down by 1.77%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.50% and Maruti Suzuki was down by 1.41% were the top losers.

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Nifty is currently trading at 16,571.70, down by 34.25 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 16,561.85 and 16,768.95. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

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The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 3.66%, HCL Tech. up by 3.06%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.01%, Coal India up by 2.98% and Power Grid was up by 2.80%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 3.70%, Ultratech Cement down by 3.27%, Shree Cement down by 2.79%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.64% and Dr Reddy’s Lab was down by 1.78% were the top losers.