Stock Market Highlights: Sensex ends volatile day 778 pts lower, Nifty50 gives up 16,650; Maruti drops 6%; Coal India surges 10%

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Catch latest from CNBC-TV18's coverage of Russia-Ukraine war

Some stocks available at attractive valuations for long-term investors: Manish Shah

Independent technical analyst Manish Shah says the Nifty is showing a bullish ABCD harmonic pattern on the weekly chart, and a bullish butterfly one on the daily timeframe. "Support at 16,400 holds and we are waiting for the index to play out its hand. Any small hint of cessation of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine could mean a sharp rebound. For long-term investors, some stocks are now available at very attractive valuations," he says.

"We will take each day as it comes for some time. Trade cautiously as the Nifty could get volatile beyond comprehension over the next couple of days," Shah adds. 

Have loved Asian Paints story for many years, one of the most resilient stocks: Prakash Diwan 

Market expert Prakash Diwan is bullish on Asian Paints. Crude oil's such significant rise in such a short period will not be very comfortable for a company like Asian Paints, he says.

"We have already seen the company take so many price hikes in the last 24 months and at some point, its ability to pass on the prices will start to taper off. That will start to impact the revenue growth in a significant way while margins are under pressure... The best time to buy Asian Paints is when you start seeing FII flows come back,” he adds. 

5-7% correction in pharma should give a good opportunity with 2-year view: Devang Mehta 

Devang Mehta of Centrum Wealth Management believes corrections to the tune of 5-7 percent in pharma stocks because of overall volatility in the market should provide an opportunity to investors with a two-year view. 

“The pharma basket has already suffered a lot in the last one year when there was a risk-on phase in the market," he says. 

UPL board approves share buyback at up to Rs 875 apiece

UPL's board plans to buy back up to 1.26 crore shares through the open market route, by spending up to Rs 1,100 crore.

UPL shares finished 3.8 percent higher at Rs 691 prior to the news.

Deepak Parekh resigns as HDFC Ergo Non-Executive Chairman

The mortgage lender nominates Keki Mistry as Non-executive Chairman.

Rupee drops to 75.70 against vs US dollar

The rupee finishes the day at 75.70 against the greenback. On Monday, it had settled at 75.34.

Anindya Banerjee, DVP-Currency and Interest Rate Derivatives at Kotak Securities, is of the view that the RBI's intervention may have been responsible for the USD-INR pair not breaking above 75.85. "Over the near term, we expect the prices to trade with an upward bias. We see a range of 75.40-76.30 for the pair," he says. 

Market At Close | Sensex, Nifty50 off day’s lows after Russia says ready for talks 

Here are some highlights: 

--Dr Reddy’s falls 5 percent over concerns related to Russia, Ukraine exposure

--Auto stocks fall after mixed set of monthly sales; Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp Top Losers

--Financial stocks remain major drag; FII selling continues; ICICI Bank, HDFC twins top losers

--Insurer stocks gain on reports of delay in LIC IPO; SBI Life, HDFC Life up 6-7 percent

--Metal price rise lifts stocks; Tata Steel, Hindalco, NMDC top gainers

--Coal India top Nifty gainer after improved monthly sales data, up 8 percent

--MCX rises 7 percent with increased gold, crude volumes

--Oil India, ONGC, HOEC see healthy gains as crude continues to rise

--Market breadth neutral; advance-decline ratio at 1:1

Russia-Ukraine War | Russia says ready to resume talks tonight, has no claim on other countries’ borders

Catch latest from CNBC-TV18's coverage of Russia-Ukraine war

Coal India surges; HDFC Life, SBI Life, Tata Steel other blue-chip gainers

Hindalco, UPL, JSW Steel and Titan also among the gainers. On the other hand, Maruti, DRL, Bajaj Auto, Asian Paints, Hero MotoCorp and ICICI Bank the worst hit among the 34 laggards in the Nifty50 pack. 

Here's how the 30-strong basket fared:

Closing Bell | Sensex down 778 points at 55,469, Nifty50 slides below 16,650

The 30-scrip index ends the volatile session down 778.4 points or 1.4 percent at 55,468.9 and the broader Nifty50 settles at 16,606, down 188 points or 1.1 percent from its previous close.

Losses in financial, auto and pharma stocks pulled the headline indices lower, though gains in metal and oil & gas shares kept the downside in check. (Read more on how the market fared at the close)

Buy MCX crude oil March futures, target Rs 8,750: Amit Sajeja

Amit Sajeja, VP-Technical Commodities and Currencies Analyst, Commodities, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, suggests buying MCX crude oil futures (March) at Rs 7,900 for a target price of Rs 8,750 with a stop loss at Rs 7,500. 

MCX crude has been in an extended uptrend hitting a life-time highs near Rs 8,400, he sayd. The short-term bias remains bullish above immediate support at Rs 7,600 and the contract can possibly test resistance around Rs 8,750 possible in the near term, he adds.

Coal India shares surge 10%, extend gains to third straight day

Coal India shares surge as much as almost 10 percent to Rs 185.5 with huge volume, on track to finish higher for the third session in a row. 

By 3:15 pm, as many as 29.7 lakh CIL shares changed hands for the day, as against a daily average of 7.8 lakh in the past two weeks, exchange data shows.(Read more on Coal India shares)

Insurance co shares jump on reports of likely delay in LIC IPO

SBI Life, HDFC Life and ICICI Prudential rise 2-6 percent in late afternoon deals. 

Here's how other stocks in the BFSI space fared: