Sensex soars over 1,200 points; a few factors fueling the rally

The leader of the war-torn nation was also reported to have gone a step ahead in mending fences with Vladimir Putin, stating that he was open to discussing the status of the two breakaway pro-Russian domains of Donetsk and Lugansk which Moscow insists are independent republics.

Despite US President Joe Biden announcing a ban on imported Russian oil, the European nations are yet to join the course of action sponsored by the US. However, Europe’s deep dependency on energy imports of Russia has not triggered any response from them. “India will be a big beneficiary if the war hits brakes as commodities will cool off from their peaks,” said AK Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital.

Back home, the petroleum ministry and the state-owned oil companies had a long meeting on the impact of the oil price rise. While there were no clear solutions yet, the Indian government wants to keep the buying route to Russian oil alive. This has become even more necessary as the exports from the US, which had risen to 5 percent of India’s imports in FY20, will not be available for the foreseeable future, according to petroleum ministry estimates.

The exit poll of the recently concluded assembly elections predicts a sweep win for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh. The outcome of assembly polls across these key states – UP, Punjab, Goa, Mizoram and Uttarakhand – on March 10 comes at a time of global headwinds in the form of geopolitical crisis between Russia and Ukraine, rising oil prices and the possible aggressive rate hike by the US Federal Reserve (US Fed) later in March have already taken center stage.

“The exit polls can be adding to the investor sentiment, clawing back markets from the bottom of the heap,” said the expert.