Asian share markets plunged today after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into two Moscow-backed rebel regions of Ukraine.

The Nikkei plunged 2% while the Shanghai Composite dropped 1.4%. The Hang Seng is the biggest loser, down 2.9%.

US stock markets were closed on Monday for the Presidents' Day holiday.

On Friday, Wall Street indices ended lower after escalating tensions in Ukraine, and US warnings of a potential Russian invasion prompted investors to dump risky assets in the run-up to a long weekend.

Back home, Indian share markets are trading deep in the red.

Benchmark indices were set for a gap-down start following SGX Nifty's trend after Putin upped the ante in a crisis the West fears could unleash a major war.

Some Ukrainian civilians have been killed in frontline shelling over the night, as per reports.

In early trade, Sensex dipped over 1,200 points while the Nifty fell over 350 points below the crucial 17,000-mark.

At present, the BSE Sensex is trading down by 934 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 273 points.

ONGC is among the top gainers today. TCS and Power Grid, on the other hand, are among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index is trading down by 1.6%. The BSE Small Cap index is trading lower by 2.2%.

All sectoral indices are trading in red with stocks in the metal sector, telecom sector, and capital goods sector witnessing most of the selling.

Shares of Crest Ventures and White Organic Retail hit their 52-week high.

The rupee is trading at 74.77 against the US$.

Crude oil prices spiked to a seven-year high as Putin ordered troops to deploy in separatist areas of Ukraine. WTI Crude rose over 3% to US$93.93 per barrel in early trade.

Gold prices are trading up by 0.8% at Rs 50,487 per 10 grams.

Gold hit a near nine-month-high after Russia ordered troops into breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine, boosting demand for the safe-haven metal.

In news from the insurance sector, Life Insurance Corp Of India (LIC), which is planning India's largest IPO next month, may not sell its entire stake in IDBI Bank and can use its large network of branches to market its insurance services, its chairman said.

M R Kumar said this in a press conference on Monday:

I would like to have some stake in IDBI Bank. It has been the strongest contributor to the bank assurance channel for us. This will help us to grow that part of the channel.

The state-run insurance behemoth is planning to float a 5% stake to raise about US$8 bn next month, which could make it India's largest initial public offering (IPO) by far.

The government and LIC hold over 90% stake in IDBI Bank, which had assets of over Rs 29 bn at the end of December 2021 and over 1,800 branches across the country.

LIC took over the lender in 2019 when it was weighed down by bad loans and needed a new infusion of capital.

Over the past few years, the government and LIC have been looking at offloading their stake in IDBI Bank as it's seen as a risk to its balance sheet.

In other news, LIC is not only the largest holder of government debt owning 19% of the government securities (G-secs) but also the single largest owner of equities, the largest fund manager as well as holder of household savings, dwarfing even SBI deposits, as per a report.

LIC's ownership of G-secs peaked in March 2019 when it held 20.6% and 20.5% in March 2020, according to Swiss brokerage UBS Securities.

LIC has about a 4% stake in equities, making it the single-largest stakeholder after the government (promoter stake), but this is down from its 2017 peak when it held 4.7% of the market.

After the listing, LIC would be the largest investment in the government's portfolio of listed equities. This is important from the point of view of government budget financing through divestment and it will also be the third-largest company in terms of the market cap after Reliance Industries and TCS.

All these facts make the IPO very enticing. There's a lot of anticipation for the LIC IPO already.

Also since we're talking about the insurance sector, have a look at the chart below which shows the investment assets of non-life insurers and life insurers over the past 10 years:

Investment Assets of Non-Life Insurers 11x That of Life Insurers

Moving on to stock-specific news...

Adani group stocks are among the top buzzing stocks today.

Adani group and Ballard Power Systems have joined hands to evaluate a joint investment in hydrogen fuel cell manufacturing in India.

Under the MoU, both parties will examine various options to cooperate, including potential collaboration for fuel cell manufacturing in India.

Efforts under the MoU will be anchored by Adani New Industries, the newly formed subsidiary of Adani Enterprises, focused on generation of green hydrogen, including downstream products, green electricity generation, manufacture of electrolyzers and wind turbines, among others.

Note that the Adani group has ambitious plans and aims to be one of the largest green hydrogen producers in the world through accelerated investment in renewable energy.

Vineet S Jaain, Director of Adani New Industries said green hydrogen is the fuel of the future, and fuel cells will be a game-changer in India's energy transition.

Meanwhile, Ballard's President and CEO said they are excited to partner with Adani given Gautam Adani's inspiring leadership and the highly complementary assets across the group portfolio.

All Adani group stocks have opened on a negative note today, following market sentiments.

Adani Power is the biggest loser (down 5.3%) followed by Adani Total Gas (down 4%) and Adani Green Energy (down 3.5%).