Indian equities plunge on FII outflows

Indian stock markets tanked on Monday amid continuous foreign fund outflows and mounting concerns over the impact of the new variant of Covid-19 on recovery.

Sensex touched a low of 56,687.62 and high of 57,781.46 and Nifty moved between 16,891.70 and 17,216.75. All sectoral indices ended in the red, with IT index down over 2.0 per cent and other sectors lower by a per cent each. The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices fell over one per cent each.

Except for UPL, all Nifty50 stocks ended in the red with Coal India, IndusInd Bank, Tata Consumer Products, Bajaj Finserv and HCL Technologies falling the most.

Besides, reports of IT notices to some global fund houses have also subdued investors' sentiment.

Notably, last Friday, the FIIs sold stocks worth Rs33.56 billion on the BSE, the NSE and the MSEI in the capital market segment.

Market analysts said ambiguity surrounding Omicron continued to dent the morale of domestic investors ahead of the important RBI policy announcement on Wednesday. The domestic market is expected to be volatile as the near-term will be dominated by developments on new, they said.

"Nifty continues its downward trend and the next level of support is 16,722-16,782 band. On up moves, 17,026-17,051 could act as a resistance," said Deepak Jasani, head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

“Overall, we expect market volatility to remain high until there is clarity on the impact of the new virus," said Siddhartha Khemka, head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Globally, shares were mixed in Asia on Monday after troubled Chinese property developer Evergrande warned late Friday it may run out of money.

European stock markets climbed higher on Monday, struggling off concerns about the Omicron Covid-19 variant.

— issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com