Investors appear relieved that sanctions against Russia were not as severe as they might have been, even as Ukraine's president pleaded for international help to fend off an attack that could topple his democratically elected government, cause massive casualties and ripple out damage to the global economy.
Nifty ends above 16,600, Sensex rallies 1300 pts; all sectors, broader markets higher
After seven consecutive days of decline, Indian equities rallied on Friday, rising over 2% each, as Western sanctions on Russia, following its attack on Ukraine, stopped short of the harshest measures.
Global equities advanced Friday but US futures were lower as Russian troops pressed toward the capital of Ukraine.
Market benchmarks rose in London, Paris, Tokyo and Shanghai but fell in Hong Kong. Russian shares gained 15%, rebounding after a nosedive on Thursday as the invasion of Ukraine began.
Back home, the Sensex rose 1,328.61 points, or 2.4%, to end the day at 55,858.52, while Nifty climbed 410.40 points to 16,658.40.
On the Nifty, Coal India, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Adani Ports and IndusInd Bank were the top gainers, while Britannia Industries, Nestle India and Hindustan Unilever Ltd. were the worst hit.
All sectoral indices ended higher, with PSU Bank, power, metal and realty indices up 4-6%. Midcaps and Smallcaps rose 4% each.
Infosys launches metaverse foundry to help clients adapt to emerging market trends
Russian forces approaching Kyiv from northeast and east, says Ukraine army: AFP
WazirX launches build your own exchange programme for crypto entrepreneurs
HDFC twins, TCS, ICICI Bank, RIL boost Sensex
PNC Infratech declared lowest bidder for NHAI Uttar Pradesh worth ₹885 crore: BSE filing
The company has been declared the lowest bidder for a National Highways Authority of India project worth ₹885.0 crore in Uttar Pradesh, to be done on Hybrid Annuity Mode. The project has to be constructed in 24 months and operated for 15 years post construction.
Delhi schools to function fully offline from April 1; AAP government withdraws covid restrictions
US Futures extend losses, Dow Futures now down more than 300 points: agencies
U.S. futures are lower, with contracts on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 down at least 1%, in a sign of lingering caution over the implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Brent oil scaled $100 a barrel again. Treasuries rose while the dollar and gold steadied.
President Joe Biden imposed stiffer sanctions on Russia, promising to inflict a “severe cost on the Russian economy" that will hamper its ability to do business in foreign currencies. But the U.S. and its allies spared Russia’s oil exports and avoided blocking access to the Swift global payment network.
SpiceJet to start six Bangkok flights from 10 March
Axis Securities recommends BUY on Mindtr, target price at ₹5,310/share
Robust Multi-pronged Strategy To Capitalize On Healthy Demand
Mindtree has a focused strategy to capitalize on the demand scenario. The company intends to focus on five verticals; RCM (Retail, Product & Manufacturing), BFSI (Banking and Finacial services ), TTH (Travel, Tourism & Hospitality), CMT (Communication & Technology) and Healthcare which has strong demand. The management also has a strong focus on developing expertise in four service lines including Customer Success, Data Intelligence, Cloud, and Enterprises IT.
The geographies Mindtree plans to focus on are North America, the UK, Ireland, Continental Europe, APAC, and the Middle East. The spending across these geographies remains healthy and Mindtree has positioned itself well to capitalize on the rising demand in these verticles and geographies.
Adani Power wins payment of compensatory tariff of ₹4,200 cr from 3 Rajasthan discoms: agencies
India’s top court ruled in favor of billionaire Gautam Adani’s power unit, saying state-run distribution companies in Rajasthan state have to pay Adani Power Ltd. 30.48 billion rupees ($405 million) and additional interest to compensate for higher fuel costs.
Adani is fighting multiple court battles against states including Rajasthan, and Haryana, seeking compensatory tariffs that reflect the cost of the pricier imported coal it uses to fire its plants. On Friday, India’s Supreme Court ruled that four power retailers have to pay Adani Power the money within four weeks, to clear a backlog in payments due since 2013.
State-run power retailers, which lose money on nearly a fifth of the power they supply because of power thefts and leakages through old cable networks, owe billions of dollars in payments to power generators. The latest ruling will help Adani Power repay loans or meet capital requirements for projects.
Oil prices extend gains on supply concerns: Reuters
Oil prices jumped on Friday by nearly 3% on concerns of global supply disruptions from the impact of trade sanctions on major crude and fuel exporter Russia after it invaded Ukraine.
Global benchmark Brent crude rose $2.81, or 2.8%, to $101.89 a barrel on Friday, after climbing to as high as $101.99.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude touched a high of $95.64 a barrel, and was last up $2.37, or 2.6%, at $95.18.
Russia presses invasion to outskirts of Ukrainian capital: AP
Russia pressed its invasion of Ukraine to the outskirts of the capital Friday after unleashing airstrikes on cities and military bases and sending in troops and tanks from three sides in an attack that could rewrite the global post-Cold War security order.
Explosions sounded before dawn in Kyiv as Western leaders scheduled an emergency meeting and Ukraine's president pleaded for international help to fend off an attack that could topple his democratically elected government, cause massive casualties and ripple out damage to the global economy.
The nature of the explosions was not immediately clear, but the blasts came amid signs that the capital and largest Ukrainian city was increasingly threatened following a day of fighting that left more than 100 Ukrainians dead.
European stocks rebound from Ukraine selloff
Europe's major stock markets rebounded more than one percent in opening deals on Friday, one day after slumping as Russia invaded Ukraine.
In initial deals, Frankfurt stocks rallied 1.3%, London gained 1.3% and Paris won 1.1% in value.
Rouble climbs off record low, Russian stocks soar as central bank eyed: Reuters
The rouble firmed on Friday, pulling up from all-time lows hit in the previous session when Russia invaded Ukraine, while stock indexes rose sharply after their biggest one-day fall on record.
No Russian assets were left unscathed in heavy selling on Thursday. The fighting continued on Friday.
The rouble gained 2.3% against the dollar to 83.30, after hitting a record low of 89.60 in highly volatile trading the day before.
Against the euro, the rouble firmed 2.3% to trade at 93.49 , having hit an all-time low of 101.03 on the interbank market on Thursday.
The currency was supported by the first Russian central bank currency interventions since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine.
The market expects more action from the central bank, which has to address inflationary risks. The weakening in the rouble after the Ukraine invasion is expected to dent living standards in Russia and fan inflation that is already close to 9%.
Gold climbs as investors assess impact of Ukraine crisis
Gold rose on Friday, stabilising after big swings in the previous session when prices jumped as much as 3% before closing lower, as investors reassessed the fallout of the Ukraine crisis and fresh sanctions imposed by the West against Russia.
Spot gold rose 0.7% to $1,916.10 per ounce, after hitting its highest since September 2020 at $1,973.96 on Thursday. The contract was set for a fourth straight weekly gain. U.S. gold futures, however, fell 0.5% to $1,917.60.
Indian equities surge tracking global peers
FM holds meeting with hospitality, tourism industry; discusses credit-related issues: PTI
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday held a meeting with representatives from travel, tourism and hospitality sectors to discuss various credit related issues with them.
The meeting was also attended by senior finance ministry officials and heads of various public sector banks (PSBs).
"Along with the FM, the meeting was also attended by MoS Finance Shri @DrBhagwatKarad; Finance Secretary; Secretaries for Financial Services, Economic Affairs & Revenue; chiefs of PSBs & IBA, besides senior officials from @FinMinIndia," the finance ministry said in a tweet.
It is to be noted that Budget 2022-23 had proposed to open an additional ₹50,000 crore window under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to support hospitality and related services sector.
Nifty Metal surges over 5%
Apollo Hospitals surges; stock to replace IOC in Nifty
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise will replace Indian Oil Corp. Ltd. from National Stock Exchange's benchmark index Nifty 50, effective 31 March. The Index Maintenance Sub-Committee Equity (IMSC) of NSE Indices Limited has decided to make it a part of its periodic review.
Sub-contracting takes a toll on tech leaders
For investors in stocks of tier-I IT companies, elevated subcontracting costs have been a sore point in recent quarters. This is one reason margins of these companies shrank in the December quarter (Q3FY22), while their mid-cap peers saw an expansion. On an aggregate basis, Ebit margins of large technology companies fell from 22% in Q2, to 21.7% in Q3, showed an analysis by Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. Ebit is short for earnings before interest and taxes.
Investors in IT stocks are well aware of the talent crunch and high attrition in the sector. Since demand has been strong, with robust deal wins, companies have not been able to fulfil client requirements using existing resources. For instance, in a post-Q3-earnings conference call, the management of Tata Consultancy Services said the company’s subcontractor expenses, which used to be about 7.5%, are now 9%. The management said it expects this higher cost to remain till employee churn stays elevated. In the case of Infosys, subcontractor costs increased to about 11% of sales, the management said. (Read here)
WealthDesk’s new service enables seamless investing across the Internet
India stops buying sunoil as Ukraine conflict maroons shipments: Reuters
About 380,000 tonnes of sunflower oil shipments from the Black sea region to India are stuck at ports and with producers, and new purchases have stalled after ports suspended operations following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, four dealers told Reuters.
There is no clarity when loading of the cargoes - worth $570 million at current prices - from Ukraine and Russia will resume, pushing Indian buyers to replace sunoil with soyoil and palm oil for March and April shipments, dealers said.
The Black Sea region accounts for 60% of world sunoil output and 76% of exports, and India is the top global edible oil importer.
New Delhi's pivot to alternate oils could further support Malaysian palm oil and U.S. soyoil futures, which are already trading near record highs.
India has contracts for about 510,000 tonnes of sunoil from Black Sea region for shipments in February and March, but only 130,000 tonnes have been loaded so far in February, dealers said.
Coal India looking to offer over 100 closed, discontinued mines to private sector: PTI
State-owned Coal India is looking to offer more than 100 closed, discontinued mines to the private sector on revenue sharing basis in due course of time, the coal ministry said on Thursday.
The ministry is hopeful that the collaboration with the private sector will enhance productivity and lead to production of additional dry fuel required for the development of the country, it said.
"The Ministry of Coal held a stakeholder consultation on revenue sharing model for discontinued/closed mines of CIL here today with the private sector," the statement said.
The consultation attracted huge participation from the private sector like Essel Mining, Adani, TATA, JSW and JSPL and their enthusiastic support to the proposal.
There are many mines which were discontinued/closed in the past by CIL due to several reasons and these could be reopened and productively brought into operation with the partnership of the private sector.
India VIX falls 16.6% to 26.66
New-age stocks crash, Razorpay shines
Thursday’s stock market crash battered some of India’s most high-profile startups that went public recently, reordering the valuation hierarchy with relatively smaller and younger unlisted companies emerging more valuable than the erstwhile startup stars.
RazorPay Software Pvt. Ltd, for instance, turned India’s most valuable fintech company, as shares of Paytm parent One97 Communications Ltd hit a new low of ₹771. Paytm’s valuation plunged to $6.67 billion ( ₹50,000 crore), below RazorPay’s $7.5 billion. (Read here)
16600-16800 tough resistance for Nifty: Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives, Angel One
The escalated geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine has sunk the global equity market. Our domestic market was also not spared the ongoing crisis, and hence we witnessed complete chaos all over. The benchmark index Nifty50 has plummeted nearly 5%
, probably the biggest single-day fall in many months.
Our market started the expiry day with a massive gap down tracking the global cues, which got aggravated in the latter part. The technical supports were fumed one after another, and no sign of respite was seen throughout the day. The 200 SMA & DEMA both got irrelevant to provide any kind of relief in the market as the benchmark index retained the lower grounds since the opening tick. The way the market fell like a bottomless pit, it has certainly dented the sentiments across the participants.
At present, the volatility index, India VIX, has also surpassed the previous high and has clocked the levels of over 33 during the day, which was last seen during the pandemic, showcasing the intensity of the geopolitical concerns. As far as levels are concerned, there is no immediate support visible before 16000 – 15900 and if things worsen, we may see lower levels than this as well. On the higher side now, 16600 – 16800 has now become a sturdy wall and till the time, we do not reclaim these levels with some authority, it would certainly be challenging times for markets. This is possible in the near term only if tension eases off with respect to Russia and Ukraine.
Though considering such scenarios from history, one may infer the situation as an opportunity for investments in selective counters in a staggered manner and not hurry for the ultimate bottom hunting. However, looking at the market scenarios and the volatility index, it is advisable to stay cautious and avoid any aggressive bets for the time being.
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories completes acquisition of German medical cannabis firm Nimbus Health GmbH: BSE filing
TCS Partners with University of Kashmir to Launch Education, Skilling, and Entrepreneurship Programs: BSE filing
Mutual Fund Review: ICICI Securities
Industry Synopsis
The mutual fund industry AUM at the end of January 2022 rose marginally to ₹38 lakh crore from ₹37.7 lakh crore in December 2021. The year 2021 saw total industry AUM rising by 22%
The AUM of equity funds in January 2022 was at ₹13.4 lakh crore, almost similar to last month as markets ended flat for the month after extreme volatility
The trend of inflows into equity funds continued with the start of the new calendar year as well. January 2022 received highest ever inflows (ex-NFO) at ₹14900 crore compared to ₹12600 crore in December 2021. The sharp fall in January attracted higher inflows from investors reflecting increased investment maturity among retail investors
The trend of increasing amount of SIP continued with January 2022 seeing inflows through SIP at ₹11500 crore compared to ₹11300 crore in December 2021
The debt funds after witnessing higher returns and higher inflows for two to three years, continue to see outflows. Funds except liquid/ultra-short/low duration, witnessed outflows of ₹8000 crore in January 2022
The trend of higher inflows into ETFs continued with higher inflows into the index on the back of regular NFOs
Performance Highlights
Equity markets in the last few months have been extremely volatile on the back of rising global market volatility. Globally, rising inflationary concerns and geo-political tension has led to risk aversion among investors leading to sharp fall in equity markets across the globe. For Indian markets, rising crude oil prices and continuous selling by foreign institutional investors is leading to rising volatility
Midcap and small cap funds have underperformed in last one month as investors look to book profit in specific stocks in a volatile global equity environment
Banking funds, after having underperformed, have seen a sharp improvement in performance in the last one month. Similarly, while IT funds remain best performing for a longer duration, they are one of the worst performing categories of funds since the start of 2022.
Ukraine says Russian troops largely stopped from advancing: Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia resumed missile strikes at 4 a.m. on Friday, but its troops had been stopped from advancing in most directions.
In a televised speech, Zelenskiy said the Russian strikes were aimed at both military and civilian targets.
Rupee rebounds 32 paise to 75.28 against US dollar in early trade: PTI
IDFC MF in IndusInd Bank crosshairs
The Hinduja family-led IndusInd Bank Ltd has emerged as one of the top contenders to buy out IDFC Asset Management Co. Ltd, which manages assets worth around ₹1.3 trillion, two people directly aware of the development said on the condition of anonymity.
The mutual funds business of IDFC Ltd is among India’s top 10 asset management companies.
“IndusInd Bank has entered into discussions with the bankers of IDFC Ltd (for the proposed sale of the AMC business). IndusInd is certainly in the top three," said one of the persons mentioned above, adding that IndusInd Bank may be “well-positioned" with funds of around $1 billion towards the planned acquisition of IDFC AMC.
“The formal bidding process will be completed in March and subsequently an announcement will be made," this person said. (Read here)
Bharat Forge stock recovers as JS Auto acquisition aids sentiment
Shares of Bharat Forge Ltd were traded about 3% higher Friday on the back of the broad recovery in markets after Thursday’s carnage. The acquisition of JS Autocast Foundry India Pvt Ltd by Bharat Forge also helped sentiment.
JS Auto, supplier of critical machined ductile iron castings for the wind, hydraulic, off-highway and automotive applications, will help Bharat Forge expand its presence in the industrial casting space. As of now, JS Auto has a capacity of about 45,000 tons and operates at 50-55% utilization. The sales of JS Auto has grown at a CAGR of 17.7% over the past 5 years. CAGR is compounded annual growth rate. (Read here)
PSU Bank index surges most among NSE sectoral indices
Crude price decline could be even sharper than the rise: Inflation remains a threat: Soumya Kanti Ghosh, group chief economic adviser, SBI
The ground action by Russia after long standing build up has begun in Ukraine. The current escalation can be seen as the second phase of conflict after 2014 when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula. The current escalation most likely will progress on similar template seen in Georgia and Crimea, a swift action to secure certain strategic objectives which in Russian viewpoint are non-negotiable. The chances of much larger escalation look less at this point in time.
Irrespective of the military objectives, the impact of the conflict will be felt across commodities and asset classes. Oil prices have already crossed $100 per barrel. Other commodities which will see inflation include precious metals gold, palladium and platinum. Ukraine being important exporter of agriculture products, there will be impact on prices of wheat and corn if navigation lines in Black Sea are disturbed. For India which has no strategic interest in this conflict the fall out will be mostly economic. Rise of commodity prices will impact CAD and domestic inflation. The export outlook of services towards Europe will be impacted negatively. Sanctions on Russia may impact regular trade (e.g. tea) between the India and Russia.
The trajectory of crude prices decipher interesting trends. Historical trends (since 2018) indicate that it takes around 18 months for crude prices to crash by as much 67% from the highest level and 30% drop from highest level could even come in less than 3 months. Thus the decline in crude prices from the current high levels could come even faster going by the recent trends and it augurs positive for overall macro prognosis. Financial markets also recover faster after a geo-political induced decline as the experience of 3 decades reveal.
Notwithstanding the trajectory of crude oil prices, the impact on inflation in the Indian context will be keenly watched. The average price of Indian basket of crude oil has risen to $84.67/bbl. in Jan’22 from $63.4/bbl. in Apr’21, 33.5% increase. If crude oil price rises to an average of $100/bbl. from the current average, inflation is likely to increase by 52-65 bps. Interestingly, petrol and diesel prices have not changed since Nov’21. Based on the existing VAT structure and taking Brent crude price of $100/bbl.-$110 bbl., diesel and petrol prices should have been higher by ₹9-14 each as of now. If the Government however reduces the excise duty on petroleum products and prevent the prices of petrol and diesel from rising, then the Government will incur excise duty loss of ₹8000 crore for a month. And if we assume that the reduced excise duty continues in the next fiscal and assuming petrol and diesel consumption grow around 8-10% in FY23, then the revenue loss of the Government would be around ₹95,000 crore to ₹1 lakh crore for FY23. In this context, the FY23 budget numbers that are pegged conservatively would act as a clear counter cyclical buffer for such revenue loss.
Meanwhile, there remains upside risks to inflation, even though it is high time that the methodology of computing CPI inflation by using the Consumption Expenditure Survey/ CES, last updated in FY12 may be updated. This is a major issue as using CES survey to compute inflation might be introducing an upward bias in CPI estimates as food has a weightage of 45.86% in headline CPI, that is misleading. For example, In Indian context PFCE data as released by National Account Statistics (NAS) for the year ended Mar’21 reveal that the share of food consumption was at 32.5% in FY21.The NAS and CES estimates have difference in coverage, estimation methods and databases, and, therefore, the inflation derived from weights under both the methodology, would be different. However, some of the policy decisions taken by the Government during the pandemic should have resulted in much lower CPI, but that was not to be, given the methodology of computing CPI through CES survey.
As the most glaring example, both the NAS and CES value estimates for the items in the rice and wheat groups represent the expenditure actually incurred on the items. The quantity available from the Public Distribution System (PDS) is evaluated at the administered price in the NAS, while the cost actually paid by the households for the quantity obtained from the PDS are recorded in the CES. The Government had given free food under PDS throughout the pandemic, but that is not reflected in CPI cereal data, which shows an increasing trend and this problem could get compounded further because of the current military conflict. Interestingly, during the pandemic, it is not clear why the service inflation has climbed up significantly, even as most services were closed. If we estimate CPI by using the NAS weights, the headline CPI declines to 5.26% for the latest reading for February 2021 from 6%.
Setting aside such concerns, there appears to be an upside risk of 90-100 bps to RBI’s inflation of 4.5% for FY23 if oil price averages to $90/bbl. And 100-130 bps upside if oil price averages to $100/bbl. We are, however, hopeful of a significant course correction in oil prices going by trends.
Since October 2021, services and food CPI are converging. Most importantly, rural goods and urban goods are converging to rural and urban services. This indicates that services CPI that has been sticky downwards for a considerable period of time may have resulted in mild inflationary expectations pushing up goods prices in the process. Goods prices will also increase in future as pass through becomes more pronounced. Thus overall concerns to inflation remain.
DoT urges TRAI to expedite spectrum recommendations as PMO keen on 5G initial launch by 15 Aug: PTI
The Telecom Department has urged TRAI to expedite recommendations on spectrum, as it cited PMO's request to the department to work towards the initial launch of 5G by 15 August, and to possibly obtain the regulator's views before March 2022.
The move assumes significance as the industry is gearing up for mega spectrum auctions, that will pave the way for next generation 5G services to be rolled out in the country.
Top gainers/losers on Nifty at this hour
Active COVID-19 cases dip to 1,34,235: health ministry data
All Sensex stocks in green in opening deals
Nifty back above 16,500
Sensex jumps nearly 1000 points at open, reclaims 55,000
Explosions heard in Kyiv as Russia presses Ukraine assault: AP
Explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv early Friday as Russian forces pressed on with a full-scale invasion that resulted in the deaths of more than 100 Ukrainians in the first full day of fighting and could eventually rewrite the global post-Cold War security order.
After using airstrikes on cities and military bases, Russian military units moved swiftly to take on Ukraine's seat of government and its largest city in what U.S. officials suspect is a brazen attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to dismantle the government and replace it with his own regime.
Ukrainian leaders pleaded for help as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee, and hotels in Kyiv were being evacuated amid early indications of an assault.
Nifty above 16,500 in pre-open
Sensex rises over 200 points in pre-open
Market view: Vineet Bagri, Managing Partner- TrustPlutus Wealth
Given the surge in VIX this week due to the current geopolitical uncertainty, the decline in our market is not surprising. On the other hand the strength in gold and crude are a natural fallout of this uncertainty. It has now been 4 months since the markets peaked out and we are down ~10% on the benchmark. Importantly, we must remind ourselves that this decline is not due to any India centric issue. Thus we would not be too concerned regarding this ongoing correction and would view it as a healthy break from the rally we have witnessed over the past two years.
Russia-Ukraine crisis and gold prices: Vidit Garg, Director of MyGoldKart
War, any where in the world, causes ripples in the global economy and as per history at war times, the gold prices had always jumped high during those time. Gold usually appreciates during crises such as war as demand for yellow metal shoots us. Gold is one of the most traditional investment forms since centuries. This is considered as safe- haven, assets to buy at the time when other assets such as equity etc. are falling at jet speed. Gold price are normally in inverse relationship with equity price. The other reason for rise in gold price is that during such time the spending by Governments increases and they increase money creation, which causes the gold price to rise.
Further during geopolitical turmoil, with rise in oil prices the overall inflation also shoots up and gold is considered as hedge against inflation. Recent post also indicates the similar scenario such as during 9/11, corona pandemic in March 2020 when the gold prices rose.
However, it cannot be considered as right time to investment as after every such crisis, the gold price had taken a plunge. As such for a long-term investor it is time to press pause button.
CBI arrests Anand Subramanian, former NSE GOO, in connection with alleged irregularities in National Stock Exchange
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) late on Thursday arrested Anand Subramanian, former chief operating officer of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), said a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
"The arrest happened after three days of continued questioning in Chennai, he would be produced before the special court for custody," said the person.
The CBI’s case pertains to the so-called co-location scam where a few brokers wielded unfair advantage over others when they accessed NSE’s high-speed trading platform or algo trading and co-location platform. A case was registered in 2018 against OPG Securities Pvt. Ltd, a Delhi-based brokerage firm, and unnamed officials with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and NSE.
The CBI had been questioning Chitra Ramkrishna former, CEO of NSE, Ravi Narin, former vice chairman to the board since last Friday.
Oil prices surge 2% as Russian invasion of Ukraine rings supply alarm bells
Oil prices soared nearly $2 per barrel in early trade on Friday as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continued to inflame global supply concerns as markets brace for the impact of trade sanctions on major crude exporter Russia.
Global benchmark Brent crude rose $1.99, or 2%, to $101.07 a barrel on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 climbed $1.89, or 2% to $94.70 a barrel.
The attack on Ukraine caused prices to surge to more than $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014 on Thursday, with Brent touching $105, before paring gains by the close of trade.
SGX Nifty jumps 290 points in early deals on Friday
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange soared 290.50 points, of 1.79%, to 16,527.50, indicating a positive start for Indian benchmarks.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Thursday, Indian equities, like their global peers, tanked, with benchmark indices down nearly 5% each, clocking their biggest single-day decline since March 2020.
Sensex slumped 2,702.15 points, or 4.7%, to close at 54,529.91, while Nifty nosedived 815.30 points or 4.8% to close the session at 16,247.95.
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