Closing Bell: Uncertainty and fear engulfs D-street

The rupee has tanked to its lifetime low of 77.11 against the US dollar today as escalating geopolitical risks of the Russia-Ukraine conflict pushed investors to safe-haven assets like gold.

The rupee has tanked to its lifetime low of 77.11 against the US dollar today as escalating geopolitical risks of the Russia-Ukraine conflict pushed investors to safe-haven assets like gold. 

The mounting tensions between the two European nations kept crude oil prices at an elevated level and heightened worries about domestic inflation and wider trade deficits. Continued foreign fund outflows and a relatively less inflow of domestic investors into equities also weighed on investor sentiment.  

Nifty Realty index closed down 5.47 per cent at 393.65 today. The index has lost 17.00 per cent over the last one month. The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, went up by 16.80 per cent to 35.60 levels. The banking stocks underperformed today, the Bankex index has fallen by 4.59 per cent i.e. by 1816 points. The Nifty 50 index was down by 382 points and closed at 15,863.15 levels. Bank Nifty on the other hand has slipped by 1536 points and ended the day at 32,871.25. 

The Sensex settled at 52,842.75 falling 1491 points. Similarly, the BSE Midcap index has dropped today by 509 points and ended the day at 22,108.94 levels. Similarly, the BSE Smallcap has plummeted by 605 points and stood at 25,681.12 at day end. 

On the BSE Sensex today, the top stocks were Tata Steel, HCL Technologies, Infosys, and Bharti Airtel. On the other hand, the top losers were Induslnd Bank, Axis Bank, Maruti Suzuki, and Bajaj Finance. 

The total stocks traded today were 3594 out of which 849 advanced and 2608 stocks declined, 137 stocks that were unchanged. The number of stocks that were locked in the upper circuit is 20 and the number of stocks that were locked in the lower circuit today was 8. The numbers of stocks that have made a 52-week high are 97 and there were 161 stocks that made a 52-week low today.