Indian equity benchmarks broke investor sentiment as the spread of the Omicron version of the coronavirus broke. The Sensex fell up to 1,158 points and the Nifty 50 index slipped below its crucial psychological level of 16,650.
As of 9:45 am, the Sensex was down 1,108 points at 55,903 and the Nifty 50 index was down 339 points, or 2 per cent, at 16,646.
Asian stock markets fell and oil prices tumbled on Monday as a surge in Omicron COVID-19 cases forced tighter restrictions in Europe and threatened to turn the global economy into a new year.
Beijing eased the mood a bit by cutting one-year lending rates for the time of frost in 20 months, although some had expected an easing of five-year rates as well.
Chinese blue chips still fell 0.4 percent, while MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.8 percent. Japan’s Nikkei fell 1.7 per cent and South Korean shares fell 1.2 per cent.
S&P 500 futures were down 0.8 percent and Nasdaq futures fell nearly 1 percent. EUROSTOXX 50 futures fell 1.1 per cent and FTSE futures fell 1.0 per cent.
Omicron’s spread saw the Netherlands go into lockdown on Sunday and pressure others to follow it, although the United States was prepared to remain open.
Back home, selling pressure was visible across sectors as all 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty Metal index’s fall of over 3 per cent. Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Services, FMCG, IT, PSU Bank, Private Bank, Realty and Consumer Durable indices also fell between 1.5-2.85 per cent.
Mid- and small-cap stocks were also facing selling pressure as the Nifty Midcap 100 index declined 2.76 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index lost nearly 3 per cent.
Forty-eight stocks in the Nifty 50 basket were trading lower on the back of 4 per cent decline in Bajaj Finance. JSW Steel, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, Bharat Petroleum, Tata Motors, ONGC, HDFC Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, Hindalco and Bajaj Finserv also fell between 2.5-3.6 per cent.
On the flipside, Cipla and Sun Pharma were among the notable gainers.
Overall the market was very bearish as 2,389 shares were falling while 568 were moving on the BSE.
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