New Delhi, Mar 4 (IANS): February became the second consecutive month to witness a decline in Nifty index and the second steepest month-on-month fall in the past 23 months, brokerage house Motilal Oswal Financial Services said in a report.

The Nifty ended 3.1 lower month-on-month in February at 16,794 points, it said.

"The global and local markets were jolted by Russian President Mr. Vladimir Putin's decision to launch a special military operation for demilitarisation of Ukraine," it said in the report.

Outflows by foreign institutional buyers have been sharp in the past two months, however, the same was matched by sharper inflows by domestic institutional investors.

In February, DIIs recorded the highest inflows since March 2020 at $5.6 billion, whereas FIIs pulled $5 billion from the market, it added.

"The Russia-Ukraine conflict has resulted in a global risk-off, with equity markets undergoing intermittent bouts of correction and elevated volatility. The uncertainty over the duration and magnitude of the extant conflict could keep the market jittery and dependent on news flow."

In the sectoral space, the PSU banks declined 11 per cent, media fell 10 per cent, real estate 9 per cent, telecom 8 per cent and automobiles 8 per cent.

Whereas, metals was the only sector to close in the green, rising 8 per cent, the brokerage said.