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Below is the Daily Market Commentary 17 February 2022 By Mr. Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd

Domestic equity remained volatile as uncertainty continued around Ukraine- Russia scenario as well as weekly Index expiry. Nifty opened positive but was unable to sustain at higher levels and nosedived into red. The index witnessed wild swings before ending the day with minor loss of 18 points at 17,305 levels. Broader market underperformed and closed with loss of 1%. Except for FMCG and Oil & Gas, all other sectors ended in red, with Nifty bank being top laggard down 1%. India VIX rose 6.9% at 22 levels.

Global markets remained on edge after flare up in geo-political tensions between Russia and Ukraine. On the positive side, the Fed minutes indicated that while the central bank intends to shortly begin raising interest rates, its decisions would be data-dependent.

Equity markets have seen rise in volatility in the last couple of days due to varying news flows coming in from Ukraine border. Nifty has been trading in a broader range of 16,800-17,400 and needs a decisive breakout on either side for clear direction. For now, investors will have to navigate their way through the Ukraine crisis and rate hike environment to stay on course.

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