Europe's weak opening triggers selling pressure
Bourses couldn't sustain opening rally of over 900 pts after European bourses opened on sluggish note owing to concerns over Omicron variant; Nifty ends below 17,000pts for 1st time in 3mths
image for illustrative purpose
Surrendering All Gains
- BSE Sensex settled 195.71 pts lower at 57,064.87
- NSE Nifty declined 70.75 pts to 16,983.20
- Tata Steel top loser in Sensex pack
- Kotak Bank, Bajaj Auto, M&M, Airtel, RIL, IndusInd Bank and Maruti in the red
- PowerGrid, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, Nestle India and Bajaj Finance among the gainers
Mumbai: Equity indices surrendered early gains to close in the red on Tuesday, mirroring the nervousness in world markets about the impact of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus on global economic recovery. The selling pressure was prompted after European markets opened in the negative territory amid concerns over the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, traders said.
A depreciating rupee and unabated foreign fund outflows further weighed on sentiment, traders said. After rallying over 900 points in intra-day trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex pared all gains to settle 195.71 points or 0.34 per cent lower at 57,064.87. Similarly, the NSE Nifty declined 70.75 points or 0.41 per cent to 16,983.20 -- closing below the 17,000-mark for the first time in three months.
Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services, said: "Domestic indices started the session on a strong footing amid optimism in global markets following the US President's announcement that lockdowns are currently off the table. However, the optimism was quickly substituted with a sudden sell-off in the domestic market as global equities slipped into negative territory following Omicron experts' advice to be cautious. Defying the market trend, IT and healthcare stocks along with mid and small caps traded with gains."
"Markets will first react to the GDP numbers in early trades on Wednesday and the auto sales will also start pouring in from December 1. Needless to say, the excessive news flow around the new Covid variant would keep the volatility high. Keeping in mind the scenario, it's prudent to continue with hedged positions until the markets stabilise," adds Ajit Mishra, V-P (research), Religare Broking.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market on Monday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 3,332.21 crore, according to exchange data.
Tata Steel was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, tumbling 3.87 per cent, followed by Kotak Bank, Bajaj Auto, M&M, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank and Maruti. On the other hand, PowerGrid, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, Nestle India, Bajaj Finance and Infosys were among the gainers, jumping up to 3.43 per cent.
Sectorally, BSE metal, energy, auto, bankex and telecom indices lost as much as 2.34 per cent, while consumer durables, IT, realty and teck mustered gains. The broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices spurted up to 1.45 per cent.
