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Indian equity benchmarks ended a volatile session near intraday high on Monday, extending gains to a second straight day, despite weakness across most other Asian markets as investors remained cautious on news flow on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Traders also awaited official data on India's GDP for the October-December period due later in the day. Markets made a gap-down start, as traders got anxious with domestic traders' body -- the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is expected to hit badly the Indian economy and the trade to a significant extent. Traders also remain concerned with a private report stating that foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflows into India in the third quarter of FY22 shrank almost 44% to $12 billion from $21.46 billion in the year-ago period. Besides, continuing the selling streak for the fifth consecutive month, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) pulled out as much as Rs 35,506 crore out of the Indian markets in February.

However, key gauges reversed early losses to trade in green in afternoon deals, taking support from former vice-chairman of NITI Aayog Arvind Panagariya’s statement that India is poised to grow at 7-8% over the next decade and be the third largest economy by 2030 on the back of four big reforms by the government. Some optimism also came as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stating that India is at a stage where growth and the focus on development have got to be strengthened from every side and intellectual property rights (IPRs) have an important role in it. Sitharaman mentioned that 28,000 patents were granted last year as opposed to 4,000 in 2013-2014 and the last year also witnessed registration of 2.5 lakh trademarks and over 16,000 copyrights, which will have a very strong ripple effect on the economy. Traders also found some solace with India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report stated that after years of enduring challenges, the non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) are finally set to witness a normalisation in FY23. The NBFCs will start FY23 with sufficient capital buffers, stable margins and sizable on-balance sheet provisioning, while adequate system liquidity would aid funding.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday as optimism over talks between Russia and Ukraine outweighed concerns over banning Russia from the Swift financial system. The EU, Britain and the U.S. are freezing the Russian central bank's assets, meaning they can't be deployed to intervene in currency markets. European markets were trading lower amid heightened tensions over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia's central bank more than doubled interest rates to 20 percent in a desperate attempt to shore up the plummeting ruble and prevent the run of banks amid crippling Western sanctions over the Russian war in Ukraine. Back home, metal stocks were in focus as Union Steel Minister Ram Chandra Prasad Singh said the consumption of steel will continue to rise due to various programmes and schemes of the government and stressed that a mission to develop the secondary steel sector is in the making. Stocks related to Gem and Jewellery industry were in watch as the GJEPC said the CEPA signed between India and the UAE, will boost the gems and jewelry industry and help the sector achieve the target of $52 billion exports in 2022-23.

Finally, the BSE Sensex surged 388.76 points or 0.70% to 56,247.28 and the CNX Nifty was up by 135.50 points or 0.81% to 16,793.90.

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 56,324.54 and 54,833.50, respectively. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.83%, while Small cap index was up by 0.80%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 5.47%, Energy up by 2.90%, Basic Materials up by 2.71%, Oil & Gas up by 2.48% and Utilities up by 2.11%, while Auto down by 0.60%, Bankex down by 0.59% and Finance down by 0.43% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 6.61%, Power Grid Corporation up by 6.03%, Reliance Industries up by 3.29%, Titan Company up by 3.11% and NTPC up by 2.46%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.81%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.07%, Axis Bank down by 2.05%, HDFC Bank down by 1.99% and HDFC down by 1.56% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Domestic traders' body -- The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has said that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is expected to hit ‘badly’ the Indian economy and the trade to a significant extent. It said the impact will jeopardise efforts to recover the domestic trade from the COVID-19 pandemic.

It further said the expected rise in crude oil will be the crucial and critical factor, which will force the prices to go upward, whereas the expected rise in gold prices will also participate in a hike in the prices of the commodities.

It added that a hike in crude oil will lead to further inflation in petrol and diesel prices, which will lead to overall inflation as the manufacturing and transportation cost of the goods will become more costly. On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a major military offensive in Ukraine, targeting various cities and military installations that had left the world stunned.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 16,815.90 and 16,356.30. There were 33 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 7.16%, Tata Steel up by 6.33%, Power Grid Corporation up by 5.58%, JSW Steel up by 4.58% and BPCL up by 3.91%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.95%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.67%, Axis Bank down by 2.16%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.04% and HDFC Bank down by 1.87% were the top losers.  

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 102.20 points or 1.36% to 7,387.26, France’s CAC decreased 220.84 points or 3.27% to 6,531.59 and Germany’s DAX decreased 420.62 points or 2.89% to 14,146.61.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday as optimism over talks between Russia and Ukraine outweighed concerns over banning Russia from the Swift financial system. The EU, Britain and the U.S. are freezing the Russian central bank's assets, meaning they can't be deployed to intervene in currency markets. The Russian currency fell nearly 30 percent against the U.S. dollar after President Putin put Russian nuclear forces on high alert in an effort to deter NATO supplies from being sent into Ukraine. Japanese stocks fluctuated before ending slightly higher amid hopes that the planned talks between Russia and Ukraine at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border could lead to a ceasefire. Taiwan and Indonesia markets were closed for Peace Day and Isra Mikraj.

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