Mumbai: The BSE Sensex closed with a dive of 503 points on Monday. The market was in the red with losses in index heavyweights Reliance Industries, HDFC and Bajaj Finance amid a mixed trend in global markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 58,283.42 points, down 503.25 points, or 0.86 per cent. Happened. Similarly, the Nifty of the National Stock Exchange lost 143.05 points, or 0.82 percent, to close at 17,368.25.
Bajaj Finance was the biggest loser in the Sensex shares with a fall of nearly three per cent. Apart from this, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nestle India and State Bank of India also fell. On the other hand, the gainers included Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, Power Grid and Maruti.
Geojit Financial Services Ltd. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, said the rapid rise in Omicron cases in the UK is a cause for concern for global markets. He said meetings of the US Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan are due this week. These will provide signals about key policy rates, bond yields and market direction.
According to Vijayakumar, foreign portfolio investors continue to sell. In November, he sold shares worth Rs 33,799 crore while in December till date (December 10) he sold shares worth Rs 17,644 crore. This is affecting the domestic market especially bank stocks.
In other Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended in gains, while China’s Shanghai Composite and Japan’s Nikkei ended in losses. There was a sharp trend in the afternoon trading in the major markets of Europe. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was up 0.11 per cent at $75.23 per barrel.