Domestic equity market benchmarks BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 were staring at a huge gap-down start on Friday, as suggested by trends on SGX Nifty in early trade. Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in a tweet said that Russian army was firing from all sides upon Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Nifty futures were trading 220.50 points or 1.34 per cent down at 16,291 on Singaporean Exchange. In the previous session, bears continued to control Dalal Street. S&P BSE Sensex dived 366 points or 0.66% to settle at 55,102 while the NSE Nifty 50 index was down 107 points to 0.65% to end at 16,498. “Weakness in market is expected to continue in near term given escalating Russia-Ukraine conflict and surging crude and commodity prices. Upcoming state election results and US Fed meeting over next two weeks would further add to the volatility. If the crude and commodity prices continue to surge or remain high for longer, it may impact margins and earnings of various sectors,” Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said.

Stocks to watch

Vodafone Idea: Vodafone Idea’s board on Thursday approved raising of up to Rs 14,500 crore, of which Rs 4,500 crore would come from promoter entities – Vodafone Plc and Aditya Birla Group. While promoters would be issued shares on a preferential basis at Rs 13.30 a piece, the balance Rs 10,000 crore would be raised via equity and debt instruments such as American Depository Receipts, Global Depository Receipts and foreign currency convertible bonds.

Reliance Industries Ltd: Mukesh Ambani’s RIL on Thursday entered the electronics manufacturing segment through a tie-up with US-based Sanmina Corporation and will invest Rs 1,670 crore in the latter’s Indian entity to take a 50.1% stake. The partnership will allow Reliance Jio to get home-made radio equipment for its 5G rollout.

Tata Steel: Tata Steel will double its current steel production capacity in India from 20 million tonne to 40 million tonne in the next 10 years, chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Thursday, while marking the Founder’s Day of Tata Steel on the 183rd birth anniversary of Jamsetji N Tata, in Jamshedpur.

Wockhardt: Pharmaceuticals firm Wockhardt Ltd on Thursday said it has fixed issue price at Rs 225 per share for its Rs 748-crore rights issue.

Eveready Industries, Dabur India: Dry cell battery major Eveready Industries on Thursday said its non-executive chairman Aditya Khaitan and managing director Amritanshu Khaitan have resigned following a recent open offer from the Burmans of Dabur.

SAIL: With debt under control and the prospect of the sector holding bright, public sector major Steel Authority of India (SAIL) is set to embark on the next phase of its capacity expansion programme to increase its crude steel-making capacity to 50 million tonne per annum (mtpa) by 2030 from a little over 19 mtpa now.

Vedanta: Societe Generale on Thursday offloaded 2.24 crore shares of metal major Vedanta Ltd for nearly Rs 880 crore through an open market transaction.