Indian equity indices took a massive hit on Monday, with the Sensex and Nifty falling by more than 2% each. The markets began the day on a downbeat note, as global sentiment remained cautious in the face of growing outbreaks of the omicron variant of the coronavirus throughout the world.

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Globally, markets in Europe were trading down as the rapid spread of the omicron strain prompted stronger containment measures. On Monday Asian markets fell as China dropped its prime loan rate for the first time in 20 months.

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European markets were trading lower with UK’s FTSE 100 down 138.04 points or 1.9% to 7,131.88, France’s CAC down 136.96 points or 1.98% to 6,789.67, and Germany’s DAX  down 384.60 points or 2.48% to 15,147.09.

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Asian markets closed substantially lower today, with Japanese stocks leading the way. The Nikkei 225 fell 2.13%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 1.93%, and China’s Shanghai Composite fell 1.07%.

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The BSE Sensex finished at 55,822.01, down 1189.73 points, or 2.09%, after trading in a range of 55,132.68 to 56,538.15. On the index, there were two stocks that advanced and 28 stocks that declined.

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The broader indices ended in the red as well. The BSE mid-cap index was down by 3.42%, while the small cap index was down by 3.31%. 

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The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty, down by 4.74%; Oil & Gas, down 3.80%; Metal, down 3.71%; PSU, down  3.62%; and Basic Materials, down  3.31%. There were no sectoral indices in the green. 

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The only gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever, which rose 1.70%; and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, which rose 0.94%. The major losers were Tata Steel (down 5.20%), SBI (3.97%), Indusind Bank (3.93%), Bajaj Finance (3.89%) and HDFC Bank (3.14%).

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The Nifty ended at 16,614.20, down 371.00 points or 2.18%, after trading between 16,410.20 and 16,840.10. On the index, there were three stocks that advanced and 47 that declined.

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The only gainers on the Nifty were Cipla, up 3.91%; Hindustan Unilever, up 1.74%; and Dr Reddy’s Lab, up 0.95%. On the other hand, the biggest losers were BPCL, which fell 6.42%, Tata Steel, which fell 5.22%, Tata Motors, which fell 4.92%, Indusind Bank, which fell 4.18%, and SBI, which fell 3.98%.

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