Mr Mitul Shah, Head Of Research at Reliance Securities.
Domestic equities gained despite no significant achievements in the Ukraine-Russia talks, as the countries enter the 2nd month of the conflict. Nifty gained 0.4%. Nifty MidCap and Nifty SmallCap were down 0.2% and 0.7% respectively. Most sectoral indices ended in green except Nifty IT (-0.3%) and Nifty Pharma (-0.2%). Nifty PSU Bank increased the most at 1.2% followed by Nifty Bank which gained 0.9%. Moreover, China's financial hub Shanghai re-imposed COVID lockdown amid rising cases, as investors fear that the 2-year old virus may threaten global economic activity once again.
U.S. equities closed higher for the 2nd consecutive week. S&P 500 gained 1.8%, Dow Jones added 0.3% while Nasdaq jumped 2% for the week. The 10-year Treasury benchmark rose to 2.5%. Developments in Russia's war in Ukraine remained in focus as American President Biden met with NATO allies in Europe. The U.S. issued a fresh set of sanctions against Russia and promised to aid Ukraine further. Biden also said that he would support the removal of Russia from the G20. Despite the ongoing geopolitical conflict, stocks have remained relatively resilient last week in the face of upbeat economic data and commentary from Federal to a more hawkish path forward to rein in inflation. In one of the latest datapoints, weekly jobless claims set the lowest level since 1969 last week, as companies held onto their existing workers amid widespread labor shortages.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict and inflationary pressures are assessing the market sentiment. Oil prices continue to be volatile as the markets around the world witness the developments of the war, which is disrupting shipping and air freight. Market may remain unsteady until the resolution of the Russia-Ukraine crisis. However, over near term, war issue and sanctions on Russian products would have high negative bearings on global and Indian equities.