Russia-Ukraine war: Sensex crashes over 1700 points! Is the bull run over?

It turned out to be a tough day for the investors on Dalal Street as the equity benchmark Sensex crashed over 1700 points to hit an intraday low of 52,542 and Nifty plunged over 500 points to 15,741 amid weak global cues and soaring crude oil prices.
 
The market cap of BSE-listed firms fell by Rs 6.28 lakh crore after investor wealth declined to Rs 240.57 lakh crore against Rs 246.85 lakh crore in the previous session.
 
Sharing the technical view, Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities said that the immediate support and resistance in Nifty 50 are 15,700 and 16,500 respectively. Bank Nifty immediate support and resistance are 33,500 and 35,100 respectively.
 
"This week's focus will be on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and its impact on oil prices. On the home front, investors will be watching the outcome of the state elections in five states on March 10," he added.
 
Ravi Singhal, Vice Chairman, GCL Securities Limited said, "Today's fall is due to news that the US can ban crude supply from Russia. My view is the same as last time, it's not a time for new investment until this war situation is settled, but long-term investors no need to worry about it. As Warren Buffett once said that he will not sell equity in case of war, even if the conflict escalated into World war III.
 
"One more thing, Ukraine is retaliating harder than anyone expected and Putin has also said that it can hold longer. So, it can take another 20-30 days to settle the situation," he added.
 
"Many stocks in the broader market have corrected 20-40 per cent. The focus for investment hereon should be towards high-quality value picks. We expect the stock prices to be in a broad trading range with a spike up in volatility," noted Divam Sharma, Founder, Green Portfolio.
 
He added that the investors should also park fresh capital towards blue chips. With the turn-up of events, Sharma expects the World Order to change over the next few years and hyperinflation to affect the world over the next few months. This could result in a further dent on margins and further consolidation of market share towards the larger organised players.
 
"The extraordinary uncertainty triggered by the war has pushed commodity markets into turmoil. Crude at $128 is a big shock. This can impact global growth and aggravate inflationary pressures. In India, growth will be lower and inflation higher than projected for FY 23," noted Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
 
"Market is slipping into bearish territory. Investors have to be cautious. There is relative safety in energy due to high energy prices, metals due to high global prices and export segments due to resilient demand and rupee depreciation. Calibrated buying in very small quantities may be considered in the above-mentioned segments," he added.

Dr. Ravi Singh-Vice President and Head of Research-ShareIndia noted that the benchmark indices are on massive selling due to an escalation of war by Russia which is not only impacting the gold and crude but overall commodities prices worldwide. New sanctions against Russia has triggered huge jumps in gold and crude prices. 

"In this scenario when the economies were already struggling to keep the pace of recovery, the fears of stagflation also started to creep in, with concerns over high commodity prices impacting inflation and slowing growth. All these factors are impacting the markets worldwide and investment outflows," he added.

He further added that Nifty may touch the level of 15,500 in near term with a strong prevalent bearish trend. Investors may remain cautious and follow wait and watch strategy for time being. Any fresh positions needs to be avoided till the sentiments and situation stabilizes.