Broader markets flirted with the bear zone on Friday, as headline indices Sensex and Nifty50 rebounded on the back of positive global cues, a day after their worst fall in 21 months. However, the bulls made cautious moves assessing the Russia-Ukraine situation following wild swings across global markets on heightened geopolitical uncertainty.

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The Nifty Smallcap 100 index bounced back 4.8 percent, a day after falling 5.7 percent to slide well into bear territory as the Sensex and Nifty suffered their steepest hit since May 2020.

A stock or index is said to be in the bear zone when it falls at least 20 percent from its peak.

Thanks to Friday's bounceback, the smallcap index is now 18.8 percent away from its high of 12,047.5 though not far from the bear territory.

Its midcap counterpart - the Nifty Midcap 100 - jumped 4.2 percent, after nosediving 6.2 percent on Thursday. Now, it is 15.9 percent from its high (33,243.5). Thursday's market-wide sell-off had brought the index within one percent of the bear zone.

On Thursday, the news of Russia invading Ukraine sent shockwaves across world markets.

Both headline indices Sensex and Nifty50 made a comeback on Friday with gains to the tune of three percent. However, the bounceback could only help investors recoup about half of the previous day's losses.

The Nifty50 entered the March F&O series, after finishing February with a cut of five percent.

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(Edited by : Akanksha Upadhyay)

First Published:Feb 25, 2022 12:44 PM IST