Ukraine: As Putin threatens the West, global markets, Sensex-Nifty, crash
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Hours after US President Joe Biden’s secret visit to Ukraine and a couple of days before the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin’s threat to the West triggered a meltdown of indices worldwide as Sensex and Nifty in India witnessed the significant crash on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, investors lost Rs. 3.8 lakh crore worth of wealth in India.
Other factors also added to a global bloodbath on bourses. These included sticky inflation and central banks’ hawkish actions. But the main factors behind this crash were global uncertainties amid increased geopolitical tension between the US and Russia over the ongoing Ukraine war, ahead of its first anniversary on Friday.
In India, investors’ sentiment was dampened as the S&P BSE Sensex lost nearly 1,000 points, slipped below the 60,000 mark, and hit an intra-day low of 59,681.55. Likewise, the Nifty 50 also gave up the 17,550 mark intra-day.
The two indices settled at 59,745, down 928 points or 1.53 percent, and at 17,554, down 272 points, or 1.53 percent.
India’s central bank Reserve Bank of India ((RBI), and its American counterpart, the US Federal Reserve, are expected to release their February Police Committee minutes late on Wednesday and may stick to their policy-tightening path because of sticky inflation. In January, India’s retail inflation went up to 6.5 percent while it rose to 6.4 percent in the US.
Meanwhile, the market capitalization of the Adani Group companies fell below the Rs. 8 lakh crore (Rs. 8 trillion) mark on Wednesday’s intra-day trade, down from Rs. 25 lakh crore (Rs. 25 trillion) until January 24 when the US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research’s report became public.
While Sensex has slipped 1.9 percent during the last month, the market price of Adani Total Gas shares tanked 79 percent while the stocks of Adani Green Energy and Adani Transmission plunged 73 and 71 percent, respectively. The remaining eight group companies’ stocks also slipped in the range of 25 and 60 percent.
On Wednesday also, shares of the Adani Group continued to reel under selling pressure, falling up to 9 percent on the BSE in intra-day trade. Adani Enterprises slipped 9 percent to Rs 1,426, while Adani Power (Rs 162.60), Adani Transmission (Rs 788.75), Adani Total Gas (Rs 834.95), Adani Green Energy (Rs 539.30), and Adani Wilmar (Rs 390.35) were locked at the 5 percent lower circuit, with only sellers visible.
Ambuja Cements (Rs 337.75), Adani Ports and SEZ Ltd (Rs 558.45), and New Delhi Television (NDTV) (Rs 201.10) fell 4 percent each, and ACC slipped 3 percent to Rs 1,775 in the intra-day trade.
According to the media reports, the Adani companies are now prioritizing financial health over the aggressive debt-fueled expansion spree of recent years. The group’s focus has shifted to cash conservation, debt repayment, and recovering pledged shares as it attempts to repair the damage caused by the Hindenburg’s report.
Adani Transmission is also expected to announce debt refinancing plans in a few weeks, the reports added.
