Ukraine tension spooks mkts

Rise in crude prices also dampened sentiment, gold prices up

Key benchmark indices on Monday edged lower as stocks fell across the world on geopolitical worries over Ukraine and as a measure of Chinese manufacturing slipped

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Gains in crude oil prices also weighed on investor sentiment in D-Street as India imports 2/3rd of its oil requirements and also increase in oil prices raised fears of raise in current account deficit(CAD) and the government's fiscal deficit.

The barometer index of the BSE fell below the psychological 21,000 mark.
The Sensex and the 50-unit CNX Nifty, both, reached their lowest closing level in almost a week. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) rose 0.6 percent to Rs 804.05.

The stock was volatile. The scrip hit high of Rs 806 and low of Rs 798.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market was negative with the popular Sensex at BSE shed 173.47 points or 0.82 percent, off 193.35 points from the day's high and up 25.67 points from the day's low.

Commenting on the market, Kotak Securities' Vice President Sanjeev Zarbade said, “Geopolitical tensions surrounding Ukraine weighed heavily on global markets including the Sensex. Key Asian markets ended lower except in China that gained 0.9 percent while Nikkei and Hang Seng fell 1-1.5 per cent. European markets lost between 1-2 percent. The ongoing conflict though it is likely to remain localized has led to risk aversion among equity markets.”

The BSE Sensex lost 173.47 points or 0.82 percent to settle at 20,946.65, its lowest closing level since February 25, 2014.

The index dropped 199.14 points to the day's low at the fag end of Monday’s trading session after rising  19.88 points at the day's high during morning trade.

The CNX Nifty at NSE lost 55.50 points or 0.88 per cent to settle at 6,221.45, its lowest closing level since February 25, 2014.

The index hit a low of 6,212.25 and a high of 6,277.75 in intraday trade.
From the broader markets, the BSE Mid-Cap index was off 19.68 points or 0.3 percent to settle at 6,480.74.

The BSE Small-Cap index garnered 4.12 points or 0.06 percent to settle at 6,449.16. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market was negative on Monday, with 1,522 shares on BSE dropped and 1,254 scrips rose, while a total of 141 stocks were unchanged.

The total turnover for the day on the BSE amounted to Rs 3860 crore, higher than Rs 2658.15 crore on Friday last.

With this, domestic equities snapped the 5-day winning streak this day, beginning of the new week and the month.

Also, crude oil prices rose amid escalating geopolitical tension between Ukraine and Russia, the world's largest energy exporter.

Brent crude oil futures for delivery in April 2014 were up $2.11 a barrel or 1.93 per cent at $111.18 a barrel.

Consequently, during the day's trade in domestic market, Cairn India rose along with crude oil prices.

Shares of public sector oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) rose after hiking petrol, diesel and jet fuel prices, while aviation stocks declined after PSU OMCs hiked the price of jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel by 1 per cent effective March 1, 2014.