Indian equities fell further on Monday in the midst of a deteriorating pandemic in the Western world and continued weakness in global markets. Both the Sensex and the Nifty have now entered the correction zone, having fallen 10% from their all-time highs.

Equity investors lost Rs 5.19 lakh crore in value as the overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies fell to Rs 254.08 lakh crore.

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According to analysts, rising inflation, hawkish central banks, a spike in Covid cases caused by the Omicron variant, continuous selling by FIIs, and weakening growth momentum in developed nations have teamed up to create a perfect storm that has spooked the market.

“These negative factors persist, causing concerns about further downtrend in the market, particularly if FIIs continue to sell. But negative sentiments are unlikely to last long. FIIs will turn buyers soon when valuations become attractive. Retail investors can use the corrections to buy high-quality stocks, particularly financials, whose valuations have become attractive,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

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Factors behind today’s bloodbath:

Omicron fear

The fast-spreading coronavirus variant continues to frighten investors as most European governments scramble to contain the escalating number of infections. Market analysts fear that another round of rigorous lockdowns might severely harm economic recovery hopes only a year after the global economy began to normalise.

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Negative cues from global markets

Wall Street closed lower on Friday, pulled down by tech titans as investors fretted about Omicron and digested the Federal Reserve’s plan to cease its pandemic-era stimulus sooner. All three major US market indexes finished the week lower as the Fed signaled three interest rate rises by the end of 2022 to combat inflation.

On December 20, Asian indices plummeted and oil prices declined as a result of Omicron worries and stricter European limitations.

The Nikkei 225 plummeted 2.2% to 27,915 points, while the Hang Seng sank 1.5% to 22,858 points. The Kospi in Korea was down 1.8%, while the Shanghai Composite was down 0.7%.

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FII panic selling

Central banks’ tightening of policies in developed markets has resulted in continuous selling by FIIs in India and other emerging markets. FIIs net sold about Rs 26,000 crore in the cash market in December alone, the largest monthly selling this year. They net sold Rs 2,069 crore in the cash market on December 17.