Sensex recovers 906 pts from low, ends 383 pts down; Nifty near 17,100

Indian equities staged a smart recovery in the last hour of trade as fag-end buying emerged in HDFC, M&M, Infosys, Kotak Bank, and Bajaj Finserv. That said, the markets ended lower for a fifth consecutive day today as the geo-political tension between Russia and Ukraine remained volatile.

The frontline S&P BSE Sensex had crashed nearly 1,300 points intra-day but recouped most of the losses to end 383 points, or 0.6 per cent, lower at 57,300.6 levels today. The Nifty50 index, meanwhile, bounced back 248 points from the day's low to settle at 17,092, down 114 points or 0.6 per cent.

Market breadth improved remarkably by the end of the session as 16 stocks ended higher on the Nifty while 34 stocks closed in the red. For better part of the session, only ONGC had managed to eke out gains.

Among these 16 stocks, M&M, Eicher Motors, Hindalco, Bajaj Finserv, Hero Moto, ONGC, Kotak Bank, HDFC, and Cipla led from the front, rising between 0.5 per cent and 1.7 per cent.

On the downside, BPCL, TCS, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, SBI Life, SBI, Dr Reddy's, Bharti Airtel, and Indian Oil reeled under pressure and fell up to 4 per cent.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices, which fell up to 2.5 per cent intra-day, settled 0.7 per cent and 1.6 per cent lower, respectively.

Sectorally, all the key indices ended with losses. The Nifty Realty index was the worst hit, down 3 per cent, followed by the Nifty Pharma, IT, Metal, and Bank indices, down between 1 and 1.5 per cent.

What changed in the market?

The decision by Russian President Vladimir Putin to order forces into separatist regions of eastern Ukraine has drawn international condemnation, with many world leaders threatening economic sanctions and others decrying a violation of international law.

While fears of sanctions pushed the Brent crude above the $99 a barrel-mark, global equities and US stock futures recovered after reports suggested that establishment of Russian military base in easter Europe "was not being discussed".

The Russian indices bounced back 5 per cent from the day's low, Indian markets recouped about 1.5 per cent, and futures linked to US equities also climbed over half a per cent from lows.