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In a volatile session, Indian equity benchmarks fell for the third day in a row on Tuesday, tracking weakness across global markets amid renewed concerns about the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Benchmarks started session on a negative note and stayed in red for whole day, as traders remained cautious with, as the state health department said Maharashtra on Monday reported two new patients infected with the new Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. Sentiments remained down-beat with a private report showed that foreign direct investment (FDI) into India in the July-September quarter of 2021-22 fell a sharp 42% on year at $13.5 billion from $23.4 billion a year ago. Some pessimism also came as preliminary data from the statistics ministry showed India's inflation accelerated again in November, driven by steep increases in food and fuel prices. The consumer price index rose 4.91 percent year-on-year following a 4.48 percent increase in the previous month. Street had forecast 5.10 percent inflation. A year ago, inflation was 6.93 percent.

However, indices erased most of their early losses in afternoon session, as traders found some solace with estimates by Export-import Bank of India showed that India’s merchandise exports are expected to grow by 51 per cent to about $303.98 billion in nine months ending December 2021 over the same period in 2020. Some support also came with NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant’s statement that the government will continue to push for greater reforms across sectors. Kant stated ‘India is determined to carry out reforms. We need more and more reforms and the government will push for greater levels of reforms across sectors and make things easy and simple.’ However, markets failed to hold recovery and ended lower, as some pessimism remained among traders with data showing that India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) jumped to 14.23% in the month of November as against 12.54% in October. The annual rate of inflation is 14.23% (Provisional) for the month of November 2021 as compared to 2.29% in November 2020. 

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday as Omicron worries persisted and investors looked ahead to a Federal Reserve meeting amid expectations the central bank will announce plans to accelerate its timetable for reducing bond purchases. European markets were trading mostly in green, as the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan are also scheduled to unveil their monetary policy decisions this week. Back home, on the sectoral front, banking stocks were in focus as United Forum of Bank Unions alleged that public sector banks have lost nearly Rs 2.85 lakh crore on account of loan dues of 13 corporates even as the banks are used to bail out ailing financial institutions such as Yes Bank and IL&FS.

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 166.33 points or 0.29% to 58,117.09 and the CNX Nifty was down by 43.35 points or 0.25% to 17,324.90.       

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 58,322.42 and 57,803.87, respectively and there were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index. 

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.37%, while Small cap index was up by 0.05%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.39%, Utilities up by 1.16%, Oil & Gas up by 0.71%, Healthcare up by 0.63% and Capital Goods up by 0.59%, while Telecom down by 1.37%, Auto down by 0.87%, Energy down by 0.71%, FMCG down by 0.60%, Finance down by 0.52% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid Corporation up by 3.84%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.05%, Nestle up by 1.03%, Axis Bank up by 0.94% and ICICI Bank up by 0.65%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.73%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.10%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.75%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.60% and Reliance Industries down by 1.22% were the top losers. 

Meanwhile, undeterred by the repeal of farm laws, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said that the government will continue to push for greater reforms across sectors. Kant stated ‘India is determined to carry out reforms. We need more and more reforms and the government will push for greater levels of reforms across sectors and make things easy and simple.’

He added ‘The basic philosophy of this government is that wealth is created by the private sector, we have to make things easy for them and the government must act as facilitator and catalyst, and we continue to push all reforms in that direction.’ He further said the focus of the government is to make India's exports competitive. He observed that India has grown in those periods when exports have grown substantially and that shows that India must be extremely competitive.

Besides, he said the economic and governance reforms undertaken in India in the last few years have addressed critical bottlenecks in India's growth story that will usher in a new era of growth and prosperity. He mentioned reforms cannot be seen in a piecemeal fashion. They must be pieces in the puzzle that forms part of the big picture.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 17,376.20 and 17,225.80 and there was 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.    

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid Corporation up by 3.86%, Divi's Lab up by 2.53%, Axis Bank up by 1.42%, Nestle up by 1.14% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.96%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.73%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.02%, Tata Consumer Products down by 1.87%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.78% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.61% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 23.65 points or 0.33% to 7,255.09 and France’s CAC increased 0.74 points or 0.01% to 6,943.65, while Germany’s DAX decreased 8.59 points or 0.05% to 15,613.13.

Most of the Asian markets ended lower on Tuesday, saddled by the caution ahead to this year’s last Federal Reserve’s policy meeting coupled with the looming worries over surging inflation and accelerated Omicron virus infections around the globe. Shanghai retreated amid woes over debt risks faced by property developers and as Omicron cases been reported in some of its major cities and as virus-hit areas suspending business operations. The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.67%, with its financial sector sub-index losing 1.17%, the resources sector falling 2.3%, the real-estate index down 2.47% and consumer discretionary firms ending 2% lower. Additionally, many companies in one of China's biggest manufacturing hubs suspended operations amid attempts to contain a COVID-19 outbreak.

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