Stock Market Highlights: Sensex tanks 2,702 pts, Nifty cracks below 16,250 as Russia invades Ukraine; fear index VIX surges 30%

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Catch latest from CNBC-TV18's coverage of Russia-Ukraine war

Russia-Ukraine war | Fear index India VIX hits 20-month high 

As heightened geopolitical tensions sent global markets tumbling, Dalal Street's own gauge of volatility hit the highest level recorded in more than 20 months. The NSE's India VIX index - also known in market parlance as the fear gauge - surged 32 percent to finished the day at 30.3, having almost touched 34 during the session. (Read more on india VIX)

Worst day for Sensex, Nifty50 in nearly 21 months after Russia invades Ukraine

Both headline indices saw their biggest single-day plunge (in percentage terms) since May 4, 2020. All of the NSE's sectoral indices finish the day deep in the red. (Besides the Russia-Ukraine war, here's what else is hurting the bulls)

Catch latest from CNBC-TV18's coverage of Russia-Ukraine war

Market Crash | Dos and don’ts for first-time investors sitting on losses

For those who have been in the stock market for less than two years, the massive one-way slide in prices over the last seven sessions would have come as a shocker. That is because till recently, any fall was short-lived and ‘buy on dips’ seemed to be a sure-shot way of making money. But not any longer. (Read more)

Time to enter the market partially: Dinshaw Irani

Dinshaw Irani, CIO at Helios India, believes the time is right for investors to get into the market partially, and to start maximising equity gains. "You can maximise the returns when you can get in when the market is correcting," he says. 

Market Crash | Keep cash in hand in case market correct 5-10%, says Nilesh Shah

Nilesh Shah of Envision Capital believes it will be good to keep some cash in hand in case the market corrects further. “There could be another 5-10 percent decline in the next few days given the uncertainty we are seeing... It is something which cannot be entirely factored in. So one should keep some powder dry,” he tells CNBC-TV18. (Read more)

Market At Close | Sensex, Nifty extend losses to 7th day amid global sell-off As Russia invades Ukraine

Here are some highlights: 

--Sensex, Nifty see biggest fall since May 2020

--BSE-listed cos' mcap declines by over Rs 13 lakh crore, to level last seen in Aug 2021

--Nifty Bank, midcap indices slide 6 percent

--Market breadth in favour of bears; advance-decline ratio at 1:21

--Half of Nifty stocks now down over 20 percent from 52-week highs

--Midcap stocks see sharp cuts; Indus Towers top loser, down 18 percent

--RBL, PNB, NBCC, Rain Industries, Indiabulls Housing fall over 10 percent

--ONGC fails to hold on to day's gain despite sharp move in crude oil 

--Hindalco erases day's gain despite aluminium hitting record high

Closing Bell: Sensex slumps 2,700 points, Nifty below 16,300

S&P BSE Sensex settled near the day's low level at 54,530, down 2,702 points. On the NSE, the Nifty50 gave up 16,250 level to end at 16,248, down 815 points.

Nifty Pharma index shed 3.7 percent dragged by the Strides Pharma Science, Cadila Healthcare, Granules India

Crude’s rally may have only just begun; prices poised to go higher: Navneet Damani, Motilal Oswal Financial Services

• Putin’s latest move could provoke the full onslaught of US and EU sanctions, which could bring Russian energy supplies to Europe in the crosshairs. 
• Should the Kremlin cut off gas exports to Europe, all the world’s gas producers put together do not have the spare capacity to plug the gap. 
• OPEC+ has some spare capacity, but it is in oil. Whether it will deem it prudent to release it and how quickly it could unleash the barrels is a question mark.
• SPR releases could help, but again, those are oil, not gas.
• Iran deal could help, but that too is oil and the entire 1.3 million b/d of additional capacity locked out by US sanctions may not be able to ramp up quickly.

Crude trajectory key to watch out for: Vijay Chandok, ICICI Securities

While the escalated war situation between Russia/Ukraine has led to a sharp cut in key equities across the globe, we believe crude trajectory will be the key to watch out for going ahead, said Vijay Chandok - MD & CEO, ICICI Securities.

“We don’t expect major sanctions which may drive a big spike in crude, equally harming Europe and US, or even in terms of aggressive rate hike leading to slower economic growth. We, thus, believe that market stabilisation is likely in the short term. Nonetheless, medium to long term thesis on Indian equities remain intact amid economic recovery as reflected by key macroeconomic indicators, strong capex spending and robust corporate earnings (Nifty earnings growth likely at 21.5 % CAGR over FY21-24). We continue to see this correction as an opportunity for the investors to add on the companies with sustainable growth visibility, Chandok added.

Indian benchmark indices extend selling in final hour of trading

Nifty breached 16,400 and Sensex is down over 2,400 points. About 212 shares have advanced, 3002 shares declined, and 51 shares are unchanged.

Will start to play India recovery theme now: Mihir Vora

Mihir Vora, Director and CIO at Max Life Insurance, says he will start to play the India recovery theme now. There have been underperformers in the investment, financial, auto and consumer discretionary spaces for the past couple of years, he says.

"But now, hopefully, oil will stabilise and at some point of time, it won’t be at $120-130/bbl. If all that happens and the currency stabilises, the India domestic sectors are the sectors to play, like financials, automobiles and construction,” Vora adds. 

Rupee likely to trade with depreciation bias amid geopolitical tensions: Sugandha Sachdeva

Sugandha Sachdeva, Vice President-Commodity and Currency Research at Religare Broking, says the rupee is on a steep downhill path, reeling under pressure in tandem with other emerging market currencies as the Ukraine crisis unfolds. "Risk sentiments have soured as a comprehensive military assault by Russia is underway in Ukraine. This has led to steep gains in the safe-haven greenback and crude oil prices owing to supply worries, dragging domestic equities. Looking ahead, the Indian rupee is likely to trade with a depreciation bias as geopolitical tensions aggravate. It can test levels of close to 76.10 against the dollar," she adds. 

Sensex hits 6-month low

The Sensex dips to as low as 55,116, the lowest intraday level since August 20, 2021. The Nifty's intraday low of 16,413.8 is the lowest since December 20, 2021.

Nifty50 well below 5-200 DMAs

Butterfly Gandhimathi, Crompton Greaves Consumer off day's lows

Butterfly down 1.1 percent at Rs 1,381.1, having fallen as much as 3.3 percent earlier in the day. Crompton Greaves Consumer down 1.4 percent at Rs 402.6. Earlier in the day, Crompton dropped as much as 3.5 percent.

Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals on Wednesday announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances for Rs 2,076 crore. The deal with Butterfly will help CGCEL expand into the kitchen and small domestic appliances segments.

Absolutely thrilled with wonderful opportunity: Crompton Consumer Electricals' Shantanu Khosla on Butterfly Gandhimathi

Shantanu Khosla, Managing Director at Crompton Consumer Electricals, tells CNBC-TV18 the company is "absolutely thrilled" with the wonderful opportunity in Butterfly Gandhimathi. 

Butterfly is a strong brand in smaller appliances and the acquisition gives Crompton Greaves Consumer the scale to expand its reach, he says.

He also says the acquisition will become 25 percent its overall business.

ALSO READ: Stovekraft says Butterfly-Crompton deal won't impact it

GAIL, BPCL, IOC, ONGC, Reliance drop 3-6%; all oil & gas, energy stocks in the red

Crude oil surges amid Russia-Ukraine tensions; Brent crude tops $103/barrel, highest since Aug 2014

Buy Nestle, Muthoot Finance: Jay Thakkar

Jay Thakkar of Marwadi Shares & Finance shares two stock recommendations: 

--Buy Nestle India for a target of Rs 18,400 with a stop loss at Rs 17,200 

--Sell Muthoot Finance for a target of Rs 1,250 with a stop loss at Rs 1,380 

Russia-Ukraine War | Sell-off deepens on Dalal Street 

All of NSE's sectoral indices suffered deep losses, down between 2.4 percent and 5.9 percent. 

Catch latest from CNBC-TV18's coverage of Russia-Ukraine war

Bitcoin slides below $35,000 after Vladimir Putin orders military operation in Ukraine

Bitcoin plunges nearly nine percent after Russian President Vladimir Putin orders a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine after weeks of border tensions. The biggest and most popular cryptocurrency slipped to a one-month low under $35,000. (Read more on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies)

Ether, Cardano and Solana all in the red.

--Bitcoin: down 8.6 percent at $34,785

--Ether: down 12 percent at $2,339

Sensex nosedives nearly 2,100 points, Nifty50 sinks below 16,450

All of the 30 Sensex stocks deep in the red. In the Nifty50 pack, only one stock manages to stay in the green: Hindalco (up 0.3 percent). 

Both headline indices plummet as much as 3.6 percent as the sell-off deepens. The Sensex tanks as much as 2,084.3 points to hit 55,147.7 and the Nifty50 slides to 16,443.3, down 620 points from its previous close. 

'Avoid' on sectors that are going to be hit by higher input prices: Andrew Holland

Andrew Holland, CEO of Avendus Alternate Strategies, has all the sectors that are going to be hit by higher input prices on his 'avoid' list. "Two wheelers and cars will be hit by higher commodity prices, and FMCG companies as well. However, it is very short-term thinking, because if in 2-3 weeks, things start to normalise, there will be opportunities in these companies. In the initial phase, these are the sectors where the pain will be felt,” he says. 

Barbeque-Nation shares nosedive 10.5%

Barbeque-Nation Hospitality shares fall as much as 10.5 percent to Rs 1,129.5, as 2.69 percent of the company's equity changes hands at Rs 1,156.2 apiece. 

India VIX's surge to 34 raises an alarm: AK Prabhakar

AK Prabhakar, Head of Research at IDBI Capital Markets, tells CNBCTV18.com: "Besides the Russia-Ukraine crisis, there could be multiple reasons for nervousness among market participants, including the F&O expiry, soaring crude oil rates, imminent Fed rate hikes, state elections and the new margin system."

Here's how the fear index has fared in the past one year:

Not going to put money in Paytm, Nykaa or Zomato: Sanjiv Bhasin

Sanjiv Bhasin, Director at IIFL Securities, is not going to put my money to buy Paytm, Nykaa or Zomato. "Let them have their place in the sun. They had it. Let them now see the real reality, which dawns when you apprise yourself to perfection," he says. 

"The whole debacle has been this new age technology and the run which made for everyone making money on IPOs that is the real headwind which has been there. A lot of that has got corrected," he adds.