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Indian benchmarks brutally tormented by the gloomy global developments which have taken the center stage, prompting investors to sell risky assets. Tensions rise over Russia’s military buildup near Ukraine and the US warning an invasion may be imminent. The geopolitical breakdown between the two nations also had a bearing on oil prices. Russia's attempt to foil Ukraine's membership attempt in NATO is taking an ugly turn with countries such as the US and UK signaling at a ‘possible war’. Meanwhile, wholesale inflation across the country rose to 12.96 per cent in January. The wholesale price index (WPI) grew 13.56 per cent during the month of December 2021, while the WPI for November last year was revised to 14.87 per cent from 14.23 per cent, the data showed. The WPI in January 2021 was at 2.51 per cent.

On the global front, most of the Asian market were trading lower amid soaring inflationary pressure and woes on still lingering covid-19 spread. Back home, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has filed draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for an initial public offer (IPO). The IPO, which is likely to hit the capital market in March, is entirely an Offer for Sale (OFS) through which the government would dilute 5 per cent of its stake by selling 31.63 crore shares. The government is expecting to garner up to Rs 63,000 crore (about $8 billion) from the IPO.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 56948.81, down by 1204.11 points or 2.07% after trading in a range of 56612.07 and 57191.91. There were 2 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 2.07%, while Small cap index was down by 2.40%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal down by 3.33%, Bankex down by 3.10%, Auto down by 2.66%, Basic Materials down by 2.62% and Industrials was down by 2.60%,  while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 1.53% and Sun Pharma was up by 0.21%. On the flip side, ITC down by 3.98%, HDFC down by 3.83%, SBI down by 3.65%, ICICI Bank down by 3.61% and Tata Steel was down by 3.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, commerce ministry has said that exports of agricultural and processed food products through Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) are expected to exceed the target of $23.7 billion in the current fiscal (FY22). It said APEDA is taking a series of steps such as promoting IT-enabled activities for ease of doing business in the promotion and development of exports from India.

The ministry has stated that APEDA is working with the state governments for ensuring traceability and market linkages for farmers for promoting exports. It is giving thrust on ensuring digitization of land records and formalization of tenancy for the farmers, which helps in boosting exports. It also said that as of date, there are 417 registered GI (geographical indication) products and out of that 150 are from the agricultural and food sector.

Exports of agricultural and processed food products under APEDA basket rose to $20.67 billion (Rs 1,53,049 crore) during 2020-21, from $9.31 billion (Rs 42,437 crore) in 2010-11.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17014.55, down by 360.20 points or 2.07% after trading in a range of 16916.55 and 17099.50. There were 4 stocks advancing against 46 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were TCS up by 1.55%, ONGC up by 0.77%, Cipla up by 0.16% and Sun Pharma was up by 0.15%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 5.89%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 5.57%, ITC down by 4.02%, HDFC down by 3.87% and SBI was down by 3.68% were the top losers.

Most of the Asian markets were trading lower, Jakarta Composite lost 91.27 points or 1.34% to 6,724.34, Shanghai Composite declined 32.19 points or 0.93% to 3,430.76, Hang Seng decreased 375.21 points or 1.51% to 24,531.45, Taiwan Weighted dropped 313.27 points or 1.71% to 17,997.67, KOSPI fell 41.78 points or 1.52% to 2,705.93 and Nikkei 225 was down by 616.49 points or 2.23% to 27,079.59. On the other hand, Straits Times was up by 1.28 points or 0.04% to 3,430.23.