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Indian equity benchmarks continued their weak trade in afternoon session amid heightened uncertainty surrounding Ukraine and surging crude oil prices kept investors on edge. Sentiments were impacted as higher crude prices will fuel already escalating inflation across economies. India meets it 80 percent of its oil requirement through imports and rising prices will not only fan inflation but will also result in a worsening of current and fiscal deficit. Traders were also eyeing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s semiannual hearing at House Committee on Financial Services, which begins on Wednesday. Investors will be watching closely for his comments on potential rate hikes, as market expectations for hikes this year has eased slightly since Russia's invasion. Investors’ shrugged off report stating that Indian manufacturing sector continued to expand in February, with the sector's manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rising to 54.9 from 54 in January. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in activity, while a sub-50 print is a sign of contraction.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower as the Russia-Ukraine crisis deepened and stirred anxiety among investors. Back home, according to private report the much-awaited initial public offering of state-run insurance giant Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) could be pushed to the next financial year, as the government is likely to hold a meeting to reassess the IPO timing in view of the escalating Russia-Ukraine war.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 55138.44, down by 1108.84 points or 1.97% after trading in a range of 55137.67 and 55755.09. There were 5 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 0.30%, while Small cap index was down by 0.08%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.92%, Utilities up by 1.19%, Power up by 1.02%, Oil & Gas up by 0.96% and Basic Materials was up by 0.75%, while Bankex down by 3.20%, Auto down by 2.14%, Telecom down by 1.68%, Consumer Discretionary down by 1.46% and Healthcare was down by 1.28% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 4.71%, Titan Co up by 1.54%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.40%, Reliance Industries up by 0.12% and Power Grid was up by 0.10%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 5.21%, Asian Paints down by 4.93%, ICICI Bank down by 4.20%, HDFC Bank down by 4.07% and Dr. Reddy's Lab was down by 3.58% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, The Finance Ministry has said that Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections grew 18 per cent to over Rs 1.33 lakh crore in February 2022 even as the Omicron wave dented the month-on-month collection momentum. This is for the fifth time in the current fiscal (FY22) that the GST collection has crossed Rs 1.30 lakh crore mark. Also, this is the first time, cess collection has crossed the Rs 10,000 crore mark, signifying recovery in certain key sectors, especially automobile sales. The GST revenues had hit a record high of Rs 1,40,986 crore in January.

The ministry said the gross GST revenue collected in February 2022 is Rs 1,33,026 crore of which Central GST is Rs 24,435 crore, State GST is Rs 30,779 crore, Integrated GST is Rs 67,471 crore (including Rs 33,837 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is Rs 10,340 crore (including Rs 638 crore collected on import of goods). The revenues for February 2022 are 18 per cent higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year and 26 per cent higher than in February 2020. During the month, revenues from import of goods were 38 per cent higher, and that from the domestic transaction are 12 per cent higher than the year-ago period.

It further said February, being a 28-day month, normally witnesses revenues lower than in January. This growth in February 2022 should also be seen in the context of partial lockdowns, weekend and night curfews and various restrictions that were put in place by many states due to the Omicron wave, which peaked around January 20. During the current fiscal, the gross mop-up in April was over Rs 1.39 lakh crore, in May (Rs 97,821 crore), June (Rs 92,800 crore), July (over Rs 1.16 lakh crore), August (over Rs 1.12 lakh crore), September (over Rs 1.17 lakh crore), October (over Rs 1.30 lakh crore), November (Rs 1.31 lakh crore) and December (over Rs 1.29 lakh crore).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 16511.95, down by 281.95 points or 1.68% after trading in a range of 16508.60 and 16678.50. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 6.75%, Hindalco up by 5.56%, Tata Steel up by 4.88%, SBI Life Insurance up by 4.31% and HDFC Life Insurance was up by 4.07%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 5.24%, Asian Paints down by 5.10%, ICICI Bank down by 4.27%, HDFC Bank down by 4.11% and Bajaj Auto was down by 3.69% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly lower; Taiwan Weighted dropped 30.65 points or 0.17% to 17,867.60, Shanghai Composite declined 8.35 points or 0.24% to 3,480.48, Jakarta Composite lost 40.39 points or 0.58% to 6,881.05, Nikkei 225 slipped 451.69 points or 1.68% to 26,393.03, Straits Times trembled 19.44 points or 0.59% to 3,259.19 and Hang Seng was down by 290.95 points or 1.28% to 22,470.76.

On the flip side, KOSPI was up by 4.34 points or 0.16% to 2,703.52.

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