Top headlines: India inc braces for Ukraine fallout, Gold outshines market

Sebi tightened rules governing market infrastructure institutions (MIIs) in the aftermath of the Chitra Ramkrishna scandal. More on that in our top headlines.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine continue to roil global financial markets, with Indian equities exposed to Europe taking a hit as well. Meanwhile, gold has emerged as the best-performing asset class this year so far. Head further down for more on these stories and other top headlines in our morning newswrap. 

Russia-Ukraine crisis: India Inc braces for fallout

Stocks of Indian companies with exposure to Europe fell on Tuesday amid concerns about the impact on their sales in case the Russia-Ukraine crisis worsens and the US and its allies impose economic sanctions on Russia.

While top conglomerates, including Reliance Industries, the Tata group, and Aditya Birla Group, said they did not have any significant exposure to Russia, executives of some of the oil and gas, pharmaceutical, and tea companies said they were monitoring the situation closely as they earned substantial income from the region. Read more

How sanctions target Russia for Ukraine crisis

The United States and its allies are coordinating new sanctions on Russia after Moscow recognised two regions in eastern Ukraine as independent, officials said. Details have started to emerge on the steps taken or planned by the United States, European Union, Britain and other Western powers. One of the harshest measures would be to disconnect the Russian financial system from SWIFT, which handles international financial transfers. Read more

Centre likely to miss national monetisation target

The Centre’s ambitious Rs 6-trillion National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) could fall short of yearly targets for the current fiscal year (FY22) and the next one as well (FY23), partly due to the long gestation period in monetising big-ticket railway infrastructure, Business Standard has learnt from sources in the finance and rail ministries.

Officials say the major chunk of railway monetisation will happen from FY24 onwards because leasing some of the infrastructure, like stadiums and dedicated freight corridor, will not happen anytime soon. Read more

Gold emerges as best-performing asset class in 2022

Gold has emerged as the best-performing asset class in 2022, after underperforming most risk assets last year. Currently, gold is trading at its highest level since June 2021. The yellow metal is up nearly 5 per cent during February and nearly 4 per cent since the beginning of the calendar year as stocks and currencies struggle amidst high inflation and geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Read more

Sebi strengthened MII rules after Chitra Ramkrishna blowback

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) tightened rules governing market infrastructure institutions (MIIs) in the aftermath of the Chitra Ramkrishna scandal. In less than two months of Ramkrishna’s resignation as managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of National Stock Exchange (NSE) in December 2016, the markets regulator decided to undertake a comprehensive review of MII regulations.

MIIs are systemically important institutions, such as stock exchanges, clearing corporations, and depositories. They are the backbone of the capital markets. Read more