New Delhi, Feb 22: Indian indices opened gap down on February 22 with Nifty below 17000 tracking weak global markets amid rising Russia-Ukraine tensions.
The Sensex was down 984.56 points or 1.71% at 56699.03, and the Nifty was down 281.20 points or 1.63% at 16925.50. About 254 shares have advanced, 1932 shares declined, and 48 shares are unchanged.
In contrast, Brent crude oil rose 2% to $97.21, touching a new seven-year high on worries Russia’s energy exports could get disrupted, and spot gold hit a new six-month top of $1,911.56.
The selloff on Asian stock markets has deepened – and the rush to safe havens has accelearted – in the past hour so as investors become more and more jittery about the Ukraine crisis.
The Nikkei is now off 2.3%, the ASX in Sydney has slumped 1.6%, and the Kospi in Seoul has retreated 1.75%. Bitcoin is down 6% at $36,633.
Markets are also down heavily in China but the situation there has been complicated after tech stocks were hammered in the wake of news that state-owned firms and banks have been to told to start a fresh round of checks on their financial exposure and other links to Ant Group, which is owned by Jack Ma’s Alibaba.
The Hang Seng has been worst hit, down 3.2%, while Shanghai is off 1.25%.
