Benchmark indices ended lower for the second consecutive session on Monday, fearing a surge in cases of Omicron. The Sensex fell 1,189.73 points or 2.09 per cent to end the session at 55,822.01, and the Nifty was down by 371.00 points or 2.18 per cent at 16,614.20. 

Earlier, the Nifty50 had hit a low of 16,653 points, down by 1.8 per cent, while the Sensex had shed nearly 1,100 points, or 1.8 per cent, to 55,922.58 as of 1:30 pm, amid unabated selloff. 

BPCL, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank and SBI were among the top losers in Nifty, while the gainers included Cipla, HUL and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories. 

Investors lost Rs 11,23,010.78 crore in just two days as the domestic equity market suffered an unabated selloff.

Earlier in the day, the S&P BSE Sensex had tumbled over 1,700 points or over 3 per cent, while the Nifty was down over 535 points.  

Initially, both the indices made a gap-down opening due to the rise in Omicron Coronavirus cases worldwide. Besides, traders were cautious with continuous net outflow of foreign funds. 

The foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have pulled out Rs 17,696 crore from the Indian markets in December so far. 

“Our research suggests that the levels of 16,350 may act as support levels in the market,” said Gaurav Garg, the head of research of CapitalVia Global Research. 

“If the market is unable to sustain above the level of 16,350, we can expect the market to trade till the lower range of 16,000-16,100,” he added. 

According to Chandan Taparia, the vice-president (equity derivatives and technical, broking and distribution) of Motilal Oswal Financial Services: “Nifty opened gap-down and witnessed sharp selling pressure, which drooled it down to 16,539 levels.” 

“Market breadth continues to be deep in favour of the declining counters, indicating weakness sweeping across the Street,” he added.