Russian recognition of rebel territories of Ukraine as independent republics on Tuesday sharply brought down Indian equity indices which are already on decline owing to over Rs 2,000 crore worth of FII fund outflows on Monday.
This was the fifth consecutive session of losses for the market.
The FIIs sold Rs 2,261.90 crore worth of equities on Monday, while in the previous session Friday, they net sold Rs 2,529.96 crore worth of equities, while on Thursday, they had pumped-out Rs 1,242.10 crore.
Initially, the two indices opened on Tuesday low amid global geo-politics but in the last one hour before the clsoing bell, equities staged a smart recovery as buying emerged in HDFC, M&M, Infosys, Kotak Bank, and Bajaj Finserv.
The Sensex had crashed nearly 1,300 points intra-day in the morning session but recouped most of the losses to end 383 points, or 0.6 per cent, lower at 57,300.6 levels. The Nifty50 too bounced back 248 points from the day's low to settle at 17,092, down 114 points or 0.6 per cent.
Among the recovered stocks, M&M, Eicher Motors, Hindalco, Bajaj Finserv, Hero Moto, ONGC, Kotak Bank, HDFC, and Cipla led the rally, rising between 0.5 per cent and 1.7 per cent.
According to Gaurav Garg, Head of Research CapitalVia Global Research: "All Asian markets were trading lower on the global front, as escalating geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine spurred a sell-off in global stocks."
The Nifty "opened gap down on Feb 22 and kept falling for the fifth session as escalating tensions over Ukraine and fresh regulatory scrutiny on China's tech sector drained investors' nerves," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities. "Nifty could take support from recent lows of 16,809-16,836."
