Lagatar24 Desk
Mumbai, Dec.20: The spread of the Omicron type of Coronavirus shook investors’ confidence, causing the Indian market indexes to open with a gap down. The Sensex plunged as much as 1,158 points, and the Nifty 50 index dipped below 16,650, a key psychological milestone.
The Sensex was down 1,108 points at 55,903 at 9:45 a.m., and the Nifty 50 index was down 339 points, or 2%, at 16,646.
Surge in Omicron COVID-19 cases spurred stricter curbs in Europe and threatened to swamp the global economy into the New Year, sending Asian stock markets lower and oil prices lower on Monday.
Beijing brightened the atmosphere by lowering one-year loan rates for the first time in 20 months, while some had anticipated for a similar reduction in five-year rates.
Back home, selling pressure was obvious across the sectors, with all 15 of the National Stock Exchange’s sector gauges trading lower, headed by the Nifty Metal Index’s nearly 3% drop. The Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Services, FMCG, IT, PSU Bank, Private Bank, Realty, and Consumer Durables indices all dropped 1.5-2.85%.
Mid- and small-cap stocks were also under pressure, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index falling 2.76 percent and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index falling over 3%.
In the Nifty 50 index, 48 stocks were trading lower, topped by a 4% drop 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 all saw their stock prices fall by 2.5-3.6 percent.
Cipla and Sun Pharma, on the other hand, were big gainers.
On the BSE, the overall market breadth was extremely bearish, with 2,389 shares decreasing and 568 gaining.
