Market volatility down as Ukraine fears recede; India VIX down 5%

Markets trading near day's higher on hopes of a peaceful solution to the recent turmoil in Ukraine

Markets which witnessed bouts of volatility rebounded today and were trading near their day's highs after media reports which said that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops back to base eased investor sentiment over the recent geopolitical tensions in Ukraine.

India VIX, a measure of traders' perception of near-term market risks, which had surged 7.8% yesterday was now down 5.3% at 14.47.

At 2:15PM, the 30-share Sensex was up 240 points at 21,187 and Nifty was up 69 points at 6,291.
 

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were up 1% each.

Market breadth was positive with 1,443 gainers and 1,062 losers on the BSE.

Asian shares also firmed up hopes of a possible peaceful solution in Ukraine. Asian markets except for China which had slumped yesterday were trading higher. Japan's benchmark Nikkei ended up on value buying after recent correction. The index ended up 0.5% while Straits Times and Hang Seng were each trading 0.7% higher. However, Shanghai COmposite which had gained yesterday witnessed profit taking at higher levels and was down 0.2%.

Shares in Europe also traded higher on hopes that geopolitical tensions in Ukraine may subside going forward. The CAC-40, DAX and FTSE were up over 1% each.

Meanwhile, global oil and gold prices also eased around 1% after tensions in Ukraine were seen subsiding.

BSE Metal index was the top sectoral gainer on the BSE up 2.5% followed by Bankex, Capital Goods, Power, Oil and Gas indices among others.

Banks were among the top gainers with ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC and SBI up 1-3.5% each.

In the capital goods space BHEL was up nearly 3% after Life Insurance Corporation has bought shares worth Rs 1,889 crore, about 4.66% stake, in state-owned power equipment maker BHEL through an open market transaction. LIC has purchased 11.41 crore shares in BHEL at a price of Rs 165.55 apiece through a block deal on the BSE. L&T was up 2%.

FMCG majors ITC and Hindustan Unilever were both up 1-2% each while index heavyweight Reliance Ind was up 1.2%.

Other Sensex gainers include, Sesa Sterlite, ONGC, Hindalco and Tata Motors among others.

Among other shares, GlaxoSmithKline Pharma (GSK) is trading lower by 3% at Rs 2,969, in otherwise firm market, ahead of closure of the open offer made by the Britain-based parent company to acquire additional stake in Indian arm tomorrow. The London listed parent of GSK - GlaxoSmithKline Plc -which holds currently 50.67% stake in the Indian company, is aiming to invest Rs 6,390 crore to acquire stake in Indian company. The public shareholders held total 41.78 million or 49.33% stake in the pharmaceutical company.