Global equities decline sharply on Monday amid Russia-Ukraine tension increases. Sensex is down over 1100 points while Nifty is down over17000 points.
In the morning, Sensex traded at 57,037 points, down 1.9 percent or 1,115 points from the previous close, Nifty traded at 17,034 points, down 2.0 percent or 341 points from the previous close.
Among stocks, JSW Steel, HDFC Life, HDFC, Tata Steel, and SBI were the top five losers in the early trade, declining 5.0 percent, 3.7 percent, 3.7 percent, 3.6 percent, and 3.3 percent, respectively, NSE data showed.
On the other hand, TCS and ONGC were the top gainers among the Nifty 50 stocks.
Reliance Industries (RIL) shares fell by more than 3 percent on Monday. Apart from RIL, M&M, ICICI Bank, Dr. Reddy's, L&T, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti, IndusInd Bank, and Bharti Airtel also fell 2 percent during the opening.
Indian Rupee declines 20 paise against US dollar in opening trade.
According to Shuji Hosoi, a senior strategist told Reuters, the market could fall further if the Ukraine situation gets worse.
Higher crude oil price is another concern for India. As per V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, if it remains at levels of $95 a barrel for an extended period of time, the Continuation of the accommodative monetary stance too will be difficult.