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Monday turned out to be a nightmarish session of trade for Indian equity benchmarks where frontline gauges shaved off over two percentage point to end below their crucial 55,900 and 16,650 levels as concerns over rising Omicron cases spooked investors’ sentiment. India's Omicron Coronavirus (Covid-19) count rose to 151 on December 19 after Maharashtra recently reported six more cases. Markets extended losses as sentiments remain dented on continuous foreign fund outflow. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have pulled out Rs 17,696 crore from the Indian markets in December so far amid uncertainty due to a new coronavirus strain, Omicron, and expectations of faster tapering by the US Federal Reserve. Sentiments remain dampened as a private report estimated 6.3 per cent real GDP expansion in FY23, among the lowest within the analyst community and stated that there is uncertainty on the growth trajectory. Also, RBI data showed declining for the third consecutive week, India’s forex reserves dipped by $77 million to reach $635.828 billion for the week ended December 10.

Markets staged some recovery in last leg of trade, although ended with deep cut, after the Retailers Association of India (RAI) in its latest report has showed that retail sales in India in November grew by 9 per cent over the pre-pandemic levels of the same month in November 2019. The industry body RAI further said that West India signaled 11 per cent increase, followed by East and South India at 9 per cent while North India indicated a growth of 6 per cent each as compared to sales levels in November 2019. Meanwhile, advance tax collection increased by 53.50 per cent to Rs 4,59,917.1 crore as on December 16, 2021 for the first, second and third quarter of 2021-22, against advance tax collections of Rs 2,99,620.5 crore for the corresponding period of 2020-21. Besides, dues on the listing fees against a company are 'regulatory dues' in nature and cannot be recovered under 'operational debt' through insolvency proceedings, said the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) while dismissing an appeal by stock exchange BSE.

Weak opening in European markets too weighed down sentiments. Also, Asian markets ended in red, on sinking oil prices and lingering concerns about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which seems to be spreading faster than other strains now in 89 countries. The resultant imposition of strict restrictions to curb the spread of the infection might slow down the pace of global economic recovery.

Back home, sugar stocks remained in focus as Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey ruled out hike in the minimum selling price of sugar from current Rs 31 per kg as domestic rates are higher and expressed confidence that exports will touch 50-60 lakh tonnes in the current marketing year starting October. On the scrip specific front, Shares of Future Group's listed companies rallied after India's antitrust body competition commission of India (CCI) on Friday said Amazon's 2019 deal with Future will remain in abeyance, citing US e-commerce major's failure to notify certain commercial arrangements as part of 2019 deal.

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 1189.73 points or 2.09% to 55,822.01 and the CNX Nifty was down by 371.00 points or 2.18% to 16,614.20.       

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 56,538.15 and 55,132.68, respectively and there were 2 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index.  

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 3.42%, while Small cap index down by 3.31%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 4.74%, Oil & Gas down by 3.80%, Metal down by 3.71%, PSU down by 3.62% and Basic Materials was down by 3.31%, while there were no gainers on the BSE sectoral front,

The only gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 1.70% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.94%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 5.20%, Indusind Bank down by 4.23%, SBI down by 3.97%, Bajaj Finance down by 3.89% and HDFC Bank down by 3.14% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing concerns, rating agency ICRA has said the growth momentum lost steam in November 2021 on the back of ‘some satiation’ of pent-up demand as well as supply chain disruptions in parts of south India on account of untimely rainfall. It said that as many as 12 of the 15 lead indicators recorded a deterioration in their Y-o-Y performance in that month, relative to October 2021. On the other hand, it said vehicle registrations, passenger vehicles (PV) output and non-food bank credit of scheduled commercial banks showed a modest YoY improvement in November 2021, relative to the previous month.

The agency said the number of indicators surpassing their pre-Covid levels eased to seven in November 2021 from nine in October 2021. It added the early data for December 2021 is mildly positive, and second shot coverage appears set to rise to 61 per cent of Indian adults by the end of the month. However, it remains to be seen whether the existing Covid-19 vaccines will offer protection against the Omicron variant and avert a third wave in India. The ratings agency also said that amidst the heightened uncertainty generated by Omicron, convincing signs of a durable and sustainable recovery are yet to emerge. In month-on-month (MoM) terms, the agency cited that nine of the 13 non-financial indicators witnessed a decline in November 2021, broadly reflecting the impact of a higher number of festive-related holidays.

Moreover, untimely heavy rainfall in the southern states appears to have led to supply chain disruptions, weighing upon activity in November 2021. Only the output of PV and Coal India (CIL), domestic airlines' passenger traffic and auto retail volumes recorded an improvement in November 2021, relative to the previous month. In addition, 'FASTag' toll collections and retail payments declined in November 2021, after having reached all-time highs in October 2021, while the mobility for retail and recreation continued to improve sequentially.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 16,410.20 and 16,840.10 and there was 3 stocks advancing against 47 stocks declining on the index.

The few gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 3.91%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.74% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.95%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 6.42%, Tata Steel down by 5.22%, Tata Motors down by 4.92%, Indusind Bank down by 4.18% and SBI down by 3.98% were the top losers.

European markets were trading in red; France’s CAC decreased 76.78 points or 1.11% to 6,849.85 and Germany’s DAX decreased 293.99 points or 1.89% to 15,237.70 and UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 86.40 points or 1.19% to 7,183.52.

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