Indian equity benchmarks fell for the fifth consecutive session on Tuesday, falling more than half a per cent as investors were concerned after Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine, raising fears of a major conflict.

The Nifty50 has formed a long bull candle on the daily chart, suggesting a comeback by the bulls from lower levels, according to Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities.

It once again held crucial lower support at 16,800. “This could be a minor positive for the bulls,” he said.

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Indian Indices

Sensex declined 382.91 points or 0.66% to 57,300.68 and Nifty was down by 114.45 points or 0.67% to 17,092.20 in the previous session. Sensex touched high and low of 57,505.85 and 56,394.85, respectively. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index. Nifty traded in a range of 17,148.55 and 16,843.80 and there were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.  

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Broader Indices

The broader indices ended in red with the BSE Midcap index falling 0.70%, while the Small cap index was down by 1.62%. The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.32% and Utilities up by 0.09%, while Realty down by 3.01%, Telecom down by 1.47%, Industrials down by 1.44%, PSU down by 1.35%, Metal down by 1.29% were the top losing indices on BSE.

Support and Resistance levels

Key support levels for the Nifty are placed at 16,908, followed by 16,723. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 17,213 and 17,333, according to pivot charts.

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SGX Nifty

The trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India with an 18 points gain. The Nifty futures were trading at 17,221.20 on the Singaporean Exchange around 06:40 hours IST.

Asian Markets

Asian markets finished broadly lower yesterday with shares in Hong Kong leading the region. The Hang Seng was down 2.82% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 was off 1.71% and China’s Shanghai Composite was lower by 0.96%.

US Markets

The S&P 500 fell 44.11 points, or 1%, to 4,304.76.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 482.57 points, or 1.4%, to 33,596.61.

The Nasdaq fell 166.55 points, or 1.2%, to 13,381.52.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 29.16 points, or 1.5%, to 1,980.17.

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European Markets

European markets finished mixed. The FTSE 100 gained 0.13%, while the DAX led the CAC 40 lower. They fell 0.26% and 0.01% respectively.

India’s GDP is expected to grow 6.6% in the third quarter, according to Barclays

Barclays has projected a GDP growth of 6.6% for the quarter ended December 2021 (Q3FY22) and 10% growth for the full financial year 2021-22. The government is set to release the GDP numbers on Monday, 28 February. The economy had a relatively stable Q3 with several sectors returning to the pre-pandemic level of activity, with services playing a bigger role in the activity, Barclays report said, adding that with the mild Omicron wave in January, there are clear downside risks to the earlier growth forecast of 10% in FY22. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its latest monetary policy, pegged India’s GDP growth rate for the current financial year at 9.2%. 

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Hero MotoCorp and BPCL have joined hands to build smart and connected large-scale EV infrastructure

Hero MotoCorp has collaborated with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) to set up charging infrastructure for two-wheeled electric vehicles (EVs) across the country. This is the first such collaboration between an automotive OEM with an oil sector Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) to set up charging infrastructure in the country. As part of its focus on new business segments for sustainable growth, Bharat Petroleum September 2021 announced that it is converting 7,000 conventional Retail Outlets into Energy Stations providing multiple fueling options, which will include an EV charging facility also, in the medium to long term. The two entities will first establish a substantial charging infrastructure at the existing nationwide energy station network and subsequently may broaden the collaboration to develop more synergies within the EV ecosystem and adjacent business verticals, thereby enabling prospects throughout the customer life cycle.

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LIC acquires an additional 0.085% stake in Capri Global Capital

Life Insurance Corporation of India has increased its stake in Capri Global Capital Ltd (CGCL) from 4.959% to 5.044 %. LIC has acquired the stake via market purchase, per the Corporation’s disclosure to the exchanges. Shares of CGCL closed flat at Rs 591.35 on the BSE yesterday. CGCL had reported a 22% year-on-year (yoy) increase in third-quarter standalone net profit at Rs 48.51 crore against Rs 39.81 crore in the year-ago period. The non-banking finance company’s board on February 12 had approved entering gold loans as a new line of business.

Swiggy is planning an $800 million IPO for early next year, according to a report

Indian food delivery company Swiggy, which is backed by SoftBank Group, has started preparations to raise at least $800 million in an IPO early next year, the Nikkei reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Swiggy has begun adding independent directors to the board and plans to position itself as a logistics company and not just a food delivery firm, according to the report. Swiggy doubled its valuation to $10.7 billion in its latest funding round, Reuters reported last month, citing sources. Rival Zomato Ltd, which saw a stellar market debut last year has struggled to keep the momentum going. It reported tepid order value growth in the third quarter. India has seen booming demand for the delivery of food and grocery, especially during the pandemic. Swiggy’s grocery delivery service Instamart is now competing with the likes of Blinkit and Zepto, which are luring customers with the promise of 10 minute-deliveries.

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HPCL MD warns of supply interruptions as crude approaches $100 per barrel

HPCL chairman and managing director MK Surana warned of supply chain disruption even as the escalating Russia-Ukraine crisis pushed crude oil close to $100 a barrel on February 22. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up $3.48, or 3.7%, at $98.87 at around 2.30 pm, having earlier reached $99.38, the highest since September 2014, Reuters reported. “There are three factors affecting the crude prices. One is the Russia-Ukraine crisis. The second is a contrarian view coming over Iran-US discussions. The third is the constant inability of OPEC to ramp up production up to the need. So, there is a shortage of 900,000 barrels per day,” Surana told CNBC-TV18 in an interview. Rising crude is a big worry for India, which meets 85% of its requirements through imports. The US and the other western countries are likely to slap sanctions against Russia after it recognised two breakaway regions of Ukraine and ordered troops in, fanning supply concerns. Russia is the second biggest exporter of crude after Saudi Arabia.

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Bulk Deal data

BAILLIE GIFFORD PACIFIC FUND A SUB FUND OF BAILLIE GIFFORD OVERSEAS GROWTH FUNDS ICVC sold 94,32,397 shares of Dhani Services Limited at Rs 85.07 per share on NSE.

ALPHA LEON ENTERPRISES LLP bought 46,82,433 shares in Gayatri Highways Limited at Rs 0.60 per share on the NSE.

MAHIMTURA SUCHITRA NISHANT sold 1,00,000 equity shares in Libas Consu Products Ltd at Rs 29.90 per share on the NSE, the bulk deals data showed.

SATYANARAYAN GUPTA picked up 66,000 equity shares in Hindprakash Industry Ltd at Rs 60.91 per share respectively on the NSE.

LALITA JAYKUMAR PATHARE sold 10,00,000 shares in Vip Clothing Ltd. at Rs 22.48 per share on the NSE.

MIKER FINANCIAL CONSULTANTS PVT LTD bought 90,000 shares of Salasar Exterior Cont Ltd at Rs 119.73 per share on NSE.

VORA FINANCIAL SERVICES PVT LTD sold 4,34,859 shares in Lyka Labs Ltd at Rs 130.36 per share on the NSE.

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DII and FII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 3,245.52 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 4,108.58 crore in the Indian equity market on February 22, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

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NSE F&O Ban

Escorts, Indiabulls Housing Finance, and Punjab National Bank are under the F&O ban for February 23. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.