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Indian markets plunged more than 4.5 percent on Thursday -- their worst single-day loss since May 2020, as Russia's move to invade Ukraine sent shockwaves across global markets. Today, benchmarks indices are likely to see gap-up opening tracking firm trend in global markets. Some support will come as Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran said that the Indian economy is now poised for recovery but high crude oil price is a cause for concern. He said the banking sector in the country is stable, capital is available and credit offtake is poised to take off. Besides, the income tax department said it has issued refunds of close to Rs 1.83 lakh crore to more than 2.07 crore taxpayers so far this fiscal. This includes 1.67 crore refunds of the 2020-21 fiscal ended March 31, 2021, amounting to Rs 33,818.97 crore. However, traders may be concerned as government's data showed that India received total foreign direct investment of $60.3 billion during April to December 2021 which is 10.6 per cent lower compared to the $67.5 billion of FDI received in the same period of 2020-21. There may be some cautiousness as Fitch Ratings said India’s economy is rapidly recovering from the pandemic but uncertainties remain around its medium-term debt trajectory. In its report What Investors Want to Know: Indian Sovereign and Financial Institutions in 2022, it said financial institutions face an uneven recovery due to lingering asset-quality risks and capital limitations. Banking stocks will be in limelight as RBI data showed bank credit grew by 7.86 per cent to Rs 115.45 lakh crore and deposits rose by 9.11 per cent to Rs 161.28 lakh crore in the fortnight ended February 11. There will be some reaction in two wheeler industry stocks as Crisil Ratings said two-wheeler sales volume is expected to dip by 8-10 per cent this fiscal year due to factors like sluggish rural demand, low festive-season sales, higher prices, and deferred purchases as consumers eye electric vehicles. Pharma stocks will be in focus as the government removed export curbs on Remdesivir injection and its active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) amid declining COVID-19 cases in the country. There will be some buzz in the edible oil industry stocks as Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Piyush Goyal said nearly 4 lakh hectare area of rice fallow will be used for oilseeds cultivation in 100 districts of 10 states as part of the government's efforts to boost domestic output and reduce imports of edible oils.

The US markets ended higher on Thursday after President Biden announced new harsh sanctions on Russian banks. Biden added that US partners are also working on global oil reserve release. Asian markets are trading in green on Friday tracking a dramatic overnight recovery on Wall Street.

Back home, registering seventh straight session fall, Indian equity benchmarks witnessed a sharp sell-off and lost nearly 5 percent in Thursday’s session, as escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine spooked sentiments. Key indices opened in red and stayed in the negative terrain for whole trading session, as traders remain concerned with India Ratings’ report in which it has revised downwards its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast for 2021-22 to 8.6 per cent from the consensus 9.2 per cent projected earlier. Traders also took a note of RBI Deputy Governor M D Patra’s statement that India's GDP will be just one per cent above the pre-pandemic level even after the estimated 9.2 per cent growth in FY22, and this factor coupled with comfort on inflation make the RBI to continue with the accommodative monetary policy. Making it clear that India's slide on growth began in 2017, much before the pandemic, Patra said the country has lost up to 15 per cent of output forever, which has resulted in the loss of livelihoods as well. Key indices continued their free fall during the final hour of trade, as sentiments remained downbeat with Fitch Ratings’ statement that India's economy is rapidly recovering from the pandemic but uncertainties remain around its medium-term debt trajectory. It said financial institutions face an uneven recovery due to lingering asset-quality risks and capital limitations. Some pessimism also came as Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) remained net sellers of domestic stocks on Wednesday. FIIs sold Rs 3,417 crore worth equity. Anxiety persisted over the street, even after Moody's Investors Service has raised growth forecast for India to 9.5 per cent for the calendar year 2022 from 7 per cent and maintained its forecast for 5.5 per cent growth in 2023. It added that this translates into 8.4 per cent and 6.5 per cent in fiscal years 2022-23 and 2023-24, respectively. Finally, the BSE Sensex declined 2702.15 points or 4.72% to 54,529.91 and the CNX Nifty was down by 815.30 points or 4.78% to 16,247.95.

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