Bloodbath on D-street: Nifty below 16, 300, Sensex slumps 2700 points in stock market carnage as Russia attacks Ukraine

The domestic equity market crashed nearly 5 per cent as Russia launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea on Thursday. Benchmark Nifty50 slipped to 16,200-mark, while the Sensex tanked nearly 2700 points minutes before closing as all 50 shares on former and 30 shares on the latter traded negative.  

At the closing, Nifty ended near 16,300, declining by more than 800 points. The Sensex shed more than 2700 points to close around 54,500. 

Nifty Mid cap and small cap indices too corrected up to 6%, while PSU Bank, Realty, Media and auto declined the most.  

Market experts and analysts have recommended investors not to panic and employ either buy on dips strategy in good quality stocks, stay put in the market or wait and watch as more clarity emerges. 

Meanwhile, Oil prices broke above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014 after Russia attacked Ukraine. Brent crude rose to as much as $103.78 a barrel, the highest since Aug. 14, 2014, and was at $103.18 a barrel at 0830 GMT, up $6.34, or 6.5%, said Reuters.  

"With Brent crude breaching the $100 mark for the first time in 7 years post the Russian military operation in Ukraine, both the benchmark Indices wilted with a 5% cut as the volatility index rose 30% today with all sectoral indices ending deeply in the red wiping out over Rs 10lac crores of investor wealth. A peep into the Advance-Decline ratio said it all as the carnage together with the volatility witnessed today was painful for both investors and traders," said S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP securities. 

Also, gold prices jumped more than 2% on Thursday to their highest in over a year and palladium extended a rally as the news over Russia attacking Ukraine unfolded, said the same report. 

Spot gold XAU= climbed 1.8% to $1,941.50 per ounce by 0841 GMT, after hitting the highest since January 2021 at $1,948.77. U.S. gold futures GCv1 jumped 1.7% to $1,943.20.