200: Top News Podcast: Russia says some forces pulling back amid Ukraine crisis; Shankar Sharma on LIC IPO; global EV sales up 109% in 2021 and more

Russia said some units participating in military exercises were returning to their bases on Tuesday, adding to glimmers of hope that the Kremlin may not be planning to invade Ukraine imminently. However, it gave no details on where the troops were pulling back from, or how many.

Britain, the United States, the European Union and other allies have warned they would impose heavy economic sanctions on Russia the moment any invasion occurred. Meanwhile, Russia says it has no plans to invade.

Apart from the Russia-Ukraine conflict updates, CNBCTV18.com’s Kanishka Sarkar shares the latest on markets, economy, politics, and more in this edition of the Top News Podcast.

The domestic market snapped the two-day losing streak and ended higher led by buying across sectors. Both Sensex and Nifty closed 3 percent higher. The 30-share barometer rallied 1,736.21 points to 58,140 and Nifty was up 509.70 points at 17,352.50.

Market veteran Shankar Sharma spoke to CNBC-TV18 today about the upcoming mega LIC IPO. He is of the view that the IPO will drain out market liquidity but not directly from small investors as he thinks demand may not come directly from the retail category. It has to come from mutual funds and foreign portfolio investors, he said.

Meanwhile, Mark Mobius said Russia and Ukraine crisis is a side-show to the interest rate hike scenario. The market guru is of the view that the US Federal Reserve is a little late in announcing the interest rate hike because, according to him, if the central bank thinks CPI is a good indicator of inflation, it is not the case.

Reflecting on the Indian markets, he said, growth prospects continue to look up and Indian equities are still in a long-term bull market. But, he advised keeping some cash levels that can be deployed if there's correction, which he predicts won’t go beyond 10 percent from the current levels.

On the political front, Former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar has resigned from the Congress, ending his 46-year-long association with the party, in the middle of assembly polls in five states and ahead of the February 20 election in Punjab. He said, the party had lost touch with ground reality and no longer reflected the national mood.

RJD chief and ex-Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has now been convicted in all five fodder scam cases in which he was named as a conspirator.

Meanwhile, Ashish Mishra, the son of Union minister Ajay Mishra and the main accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, was released from jail today.

Global electric vehicles sales went up to nearly 6.5 million across the world in 2021, which is up 109 percent from 2020. These include fully electric and plug-in hybrid passenger cars. Tesla led the global EV market with a 14 percent share, according to a report.

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