Share Market News Today | Sensex, Nifty, Share Prices LIVE: Domestic equity market benchmarks BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 were trading over 2 per cent higher on Friday, shrugging off the Russia-Ukraine concerns. BSE Sensex rallied over 1,100 points to hover around 55,700, while Nifty 50 index reclaimed 16600. IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Bajaj Finserv, Wipro, ICICI Bank, TCS, SBI, RIL were top Sensex gainers. All the Nifty sectoral indices were trading in the green. Nifty Bank index jumped 2.5 per cent, followed by Nifty Auto, Nifty Media, Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Metal. India VIX, the volatility index, fell 15.02 per cent to 27.18 levels.

NYMEX crude trades over 2% higher near $95/bbl but well off the 2014 highs set yesterday. Crude oil came off the highs as US and other western countries have so far refrained from imposing sanctions on Russian oil and gas sector. Adding pressure to price is bigger than expected increase in US crude oil stocks, prospect of Iran’s nuclear deal and US willingness to release more stocks from reserves to keep market supplied. Crude may remain volatile as market players assess Russia-Ukraine development however supply risks may keep prices supported.

Rollovers for Nifty/Bank-Nifty stood at 77% (1.12cr shrs)/76% (22lakh shrs) vs 75% (1.09cr shrs)/84% (19.8lakh shrs) previous month. Market wide rolls stood at 89%vs 91% previous month. On options front, Max. call/put OI on Nifty for March monthly series at 18000 call strike and 16500k put strike. Given the fact, CBOE index reclaiming levels of 30, Gold inching higher and depreciation of rupee against the dollar; undertone for the market remains negative. Higher VIX is likely to keep near term outlook uncertain with overhead resistance near 16800.

Nifty crumbled ~5% in the February series, down for the straight fifth expiry. Throughout the series, Nifty trended lower as recoveries remained short lived. Brent crude topped $100/bbl, while Gold is roaring above $1900/oz. Highlights for the Feb series were a) BankNifty underperformed, losing 7% on expiry to expiry basis b) India volatility index shot up 52% on eoe to settle near levels of 32, it is highest reading since June 2020 c) Nifty Realty and Media sector underperformed the most, down 11/13%. eoe d) Midcap and small cap stocks fell like a pack of card in the recent past. 

We were hoping for a reversal from 16580 yesterday, but after a brief pause, panic blew this level away, stretching the selloff till 16203.25. The 16200 mark, incidentally, had come up for mention several times over the last few months, commanding an acknowledgement, which is why we had purposefully not brought in levels deeper than 16200 into yesterday’s commentary. Expect trades to slot into the 16430-16620 region initially, but the key event to watch out today would be a potential decline in VIX and consequent erosion in premium.