Benchmark indices tumbled in the first trading session of this week, weighed by losses in index majors Reliance Industries, HDFC and Bajaj Finance amid a mixed trend in global markets.
Sensex slumped 503.25 points to end at 58,283 and Nifty fell 143.05 points to 17,368.25.
Bajaj Finance was the top Sensex loser, falling 3.10 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, M&M, Nestle India and SBI. Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, PowerGrid and Maruti were among the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 2.38%.
Of 30 Sensex stocks, 23 ended lower. Market cap of BSE-listed firms fell to Rs 266.49 lakh crore today against Rs 267.68 lakh crore in the previous session.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said, “The sharp rise in Omicron cases in the UK is a concern for global markets. Meetings of the US Fed, ECB, Bank of England and Bank of Japan this week will give cues on the medium term trajectory of interest rates, bond yields and markets.” In India, the relentless selling by FPIs (Rs 33,799 crore in November and Rs 17,644 crore up to December 10) has been the major headwind for the market, particularly for banking stocks, he added.
On the sectoral front, oil and gas and banking shares led the losses. BSE oil and gas index fell 225 points to 18,119 and BSE bankex slumped 166 points to 41,956.
However, the market breadth was positive with 1912 shares ending higher against 1554 stocks in the red. 171 shares were unchanged.
On Friday, benchmark indices ended marginally lower, led by losses in HDFC twins, Infosys and Kotak Bank amid negative global cues. Sensex ended 20.46 points lower at 58,786.67 and Nifty slipped 5.55 points to 17,511.30.
Titan was the top Sensex loser, shedding 1.39 per cent, followed by HDFC, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank and Tech Mahindra. Asian Paints, SBI, M&M, TCS and Bajaj Finserv were among the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 3.25%.
Meanwhile, the rupee on Monday ended on a flat note with a marginal gain of 1 paisa at 75.77 (provisional) against the US dollar, tracking a muted trend in domestic equities.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened on a strong note at 75.64 and witnessed an intra-day high of 75.63 and a low of 75.77 against the US dollar in a highly volatile trading session. On Friday, the rupee fell 18 paise to an over 16-month low of 75.78 against the US dollar.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Seoul and Hong Kong ended with gains, while Shanghai and Tokyo were in the red.
Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a positive note in mid-session deals. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.11 per cent to $75.23 per barrel.