After opening the day deep in the red, share markets in India recovered most of their losses and are presently trading marginally lower.
Benchmark indices recovered as they saw renewed buying interest in ITC, IT sector stocks, pharma and select banking stocks.
The BSE Sensex, which touched a low of 53,888, climbed to 55,000 levels, while the NSE Nifty was seen testing the 16,400-level, down 60 odd points.
Indian share markets had opened sharply lower as fears over Russian shelling at Europe's biggest nuclear plant in Ukraine weighed on the sentiment. Stocks tumbled in tandem with sharp cuts seen in US futures and Asian share markets.
Ukraine's state emergency service said on Friday a fire that broke out in a building near the largest nuclear power plant in Europe during intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces has been extinguished.
All this had sent crude oil prices surging to the highest level in years and stoked inflation fears.
Currently, the BSE Sensex is trading down by 132 points, down 0.2%, at 55,000 levels. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading down by 54 points.
Dr Reddy's Lab and ITC are among the top gainers today. Maruti and HUL, on the other hand are the top losers.
Broader markets are still trading with steep cuts. The BSE Smallcap index is down 1.4% while the BSE Midcap index is down 0.7%.
On the sectoral front, metal stocks and auto stocks are the worst hit while IT stocks are leading the rally.
Among individual stocks, shares of Jet Airways gained 3% after the grounded carrier appointed Sanjiv Kapoor as the chief executive officer. His appointment to the post comes days after the airline brought in former Sri Lankan Airlines CEO Vipula Gunatileka as the chief financial officer.
The hot topic these days is the mega IPO by LIC, which was scheduled for this month.
However, the IPO is set to be delayed into next financial year amid market swings triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
People in the know said that bankers and officials are preparing to shift the listing of state-run insurer to after the current fiscal year, which ends in March. A formal announcement could be expected this week or next, with one person saying the sale may happen as soon as April if market volatility eases.
LIC's underwriters have seen muted interest during early meetings with potential anchor investors. Many fund managers have been wary of making major commitments amid the market volatility.
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