Stock markets on Monday witnessed a bloodbath with main indices plummeting by up to 3.29 per cent in intra-day trade as sustained foreign investor selling and policy tightening plans by global central banks amid the rising Omicron cases hit the sentiment. The benchmark Sensex, which fell by 1,879 points at one stage, closed down 1,190 points, or 2.09 per cent, at 55,822.01. The NSE Nifty dove 371 points to 16,614.20.
The sell-off in Monday’s trade is one of the most significant selling pressures witnessed recently on Dalal Street. RIL fell 2.73 per cent and HDFC Bank plunged 3.14 per cent. Tata Steel (5.20 per cent) and Tata Motors (4.86 per cent) also fell. The BSE Mid-cap index fell 3.42 per cent and Small-cap index plunged 3.31 per cent. Investors’ wealth, or market capitalisation, fell by Rs 6.8 lakh crore to Rs 252 lakh crore during the day. With Monday’s decline, the Sensex has fallen over 2,000 points in the last two sessions.