Sensex plunges over 700 points as Ukraine crisis intensifies

Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine was on fire early Friday, Ukraine said, adding that Russian troops were preventing firefighters from accessing blaze at the plant. However, there was no indication of elevated radiation levels at the nuclear power station, according to reports.

The fears sent Asian stocks to a 16-month low and Brent crude May futures to $114.23 a barrel. The contract had declined 2.2 per cent on Thursday.

At 9.20 am, the BSE Sensex was trading at 54,325.95, down 776.73 points or 1.41 per cent. Nifty50 was quoting at 16,263.65, down 234.40 points or 1.42 per cent.

“The more Nifty consolidates around 16,400-16,500 and fails to sustain at higher levels, it increases the probability of triggering one more round of sell-off to test 16,200 or may even slide below that as well,” said Sameet Chavan of Angel One.

Asian Paints plunged 5.23 per cent to Rs 2,721.35. Maruti Suzuki tanked 3 per cent to Rs 7,364.90. Wipro, Axis Bank and M&M fell 2 per cent each.

Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank declined up to 2 per cent. YES Bank edged 0.3 per cent higher at Rs 13.02. Private equity group Carlyle is considering a Rs 3,750–4,500 crore ($500-600 million) investment in Yes Bank along with peer Advent International, ET reported.

Vodafone Idea dropped 3.16 per cent to Rs 10.73 after the telecom operator approved raising Rs 14,500 crore from its promoters – UK’s Vodafone Group and India’s Aditya Birla Group (ABG) and external investors.