The domestic bourses surged gradually among strong buying seen in IT and automobile stocks giving rising as much as 1.96 per cent and 1.19 per cent, respectively. The Nifty FMCG and Nifty Consumer Durables slumped by 0.73 per cent and 0.71 per cent, respectively. Meanwhile, crude oil trading above USD 110 per barrel due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. On the international front, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell hinted at a rate hike of 50 basis points. 

The brent and crude oil prices surge as supply risk mounts from the Russia-Ukraine war. RBI is going to execute a three-day meeting to discuss various factors before declaring the monetary policy next month. The Wall Street stocks declined as fed chairmen said “inflation is much too high” and pledged to take “necessary steps” to bring prices under control. Foreign investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 2,962.12 crore and Domestic Investors (DII) bought shares of Rs 252.91 crore on March 21. 

Top losing sectors today were auto, banks, capital goods, FMCG, oil & gas, and power, while buying was seen in metal and smallcap indices. European stocks advanced while Asian markets mostly ended higher. Global markets continue to be mixed by events in Ukraine as the war continues. Ukraine's President Zelenskyy warned at the weekend that if peace talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin fail, it would mean the start of a third global war. 

Indian markets saw a decline after two winning sessions. The Metal and Healthcare index soared, gaining 2.55 and 1.23 per cent, respectively. While the Power and Utilities index fell nearly 1 per cent each. The Foreign investor (FII) were net buyers of Rs 2800.14 crore and Domestic Investors (DII) sold shares of Rs 678.54 crore on March 17. According to the latest data from the RBI, the country’s foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 9.646 billion to USD 622.275 billion in the week ended March 11. 

The positive global cues of softening oil prices and progress in Russia- Ukraine cease-fire talks negotiations were reflected by gains in the stock markets today. All the sectoral indices on the NSE finished in the green with major gainers being consumer durables, realty, and financial stocks.   

On a sectoral basis, the Banking index soared by 700 points, while the Consumer Durables and IT index jumped nearly 500 points and 300 points, respectively. Also, IT, Consumer Durable stocks advanced amid a global bullish tone in the sector. The Foreign investor (FII) were net buyers of Rs 311.9 crore and Domestic Investors (DII) bought shares of Rs 772.55 crore on March 16. 

Nifty Realty index closed up 3.64 per cent at 437.05 today. All the sectoral indices finished in the green with IT, oil & gas, auto, bank, metal, and realty indices rose 2-3 per cent, while capital goods, FMCG, and power indices gained 1 per cent each. Tomorrow, we may observe a volatile session due to weakly expiry and also Fed meeting today where a likely rate hike is expected after COVID-19.  

The Foreign Investor (FII) saw a net outflow of Rs 1249.74 crore and the Domestic Investors (DII) inflow of Rs 98.25 crore was recorded. Crude prices have also come under pressure amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in Wuhan. The price of crude oil has come down under the USD 100 mark at USD 97.46. The Indian rupee has also appreciated against dollar and is trading at 76.30. The gold bullion rate for April 2022 contract is Rs 51,346. 

Asian markets were trading higher on Wednesday, though markets in mainland China struggled to recover amid the covid reappearance in Wuhan.

The Nifty Auto index gained around 2 per cent to advance for the second straight day despite choppy trade on Tuesday.