Key indices tank AS Omicron panic RENEWS

Mumbai: Equity indices plunged to over four-month lows on Monday as concerns over surging Omicron cases across the world jolted investors, sparking a heavy selloff in global markets.

Relentless selling by foreign investors (FIIs) amid a hawkish tilt by central banks also weighed on sentiment, traders said. The 30-share BSE Sensex slumped 1,189.73 points or 2.90 per cent to end at 55,822.01 -- its lowest since August 23 this year. On similar lines, the NSE Nifty tanked 371 points or 2.18 per cent to end at 16,614.20.

The market capitalisation (mcap) of all BSE-listed companies tumbled by Rs 6.79 lakh crore to stand at Rs2,52,57,581.05 crore.

"India has been undergoing a phase of consolidation in the last two months. Currently, selloff is due to rapid rise in FIIs selling triggered by hawkish world central banks' policy, cautious view on Indian market due to high valuation compared to peers and drop in retail inflows. We feel that we are reaching the last phase of this consolidation in terms of price correction. Some pockets have become fair, however the overall market is still trading at the upper-hand which will continue to affect the performance of broad market, in the short-term," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

Ajit Mishra, V-P (research), Religare Broking, adds: "Markets reacted to the news of a sharp jump in the Covid cases globally, which may result in lockdowns. Though the situation is under control domestically at present, any impact on the global economic recovery would dent our prospects too. Besides, the continuous outflow of the foreign fund was also weighing on the sentiment. We reiterate our cautious view on markets and suggest focusing more on risk management."

FIIs continued to offload shares in the capital market on Friday, as they sold equities worth Rs 2,069.90 crore, exchange data showed. Tata Steel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, sinking 5.20 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, SBI, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank. Kotak Bank and NTPC. Only HUL and Dr Reddy's managed to close in the green, climbing up to 1.70 per cent.

According to experts, exploding Covid-19 cases, sustained selling by FIIs and slowing growth momentum in the developed economies have spooked markets the world over.

All sectoral indices ended in the red, with BSE realty, oil and gas, metal, bankex and energy indices falling up to 4.74 per cent. Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices lost as much as 3.42 per cent.