Benchmark stock market indices fell sharply on Monday amid uncertainty around the new coronavirus variant and due to pressure from foreign institutional investors selling. Another factor which worried investors was the upcoming monetary policy review meeting, where the RBI could introduce measures to tackle inflation. All the sectoral indices on the NSE ended in the red. IT and auto shares tumbled.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 949.32 points or 1.65% to 56,747.14. The Nifty 50 index lost 284.45 points or 1.65% to 16,912.25. Both the indices opened near flat line, but declined as the session progressed. Selling intensified in the second half of the session.

Bharti Airtel (down 2.96%) and Reliance Industries (down 1.86%) were major drags.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-Cap index and the BSE Small-Cap index shed 1.35% each.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1418 shares rose and 2004 shares fell. A total of 177 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, surged 8.79% at 20.08.

COVID-19 Update:

India recorded 8,306 new Covid-19 cases, according to the Health Ministry's press release in the last 24 hours ending 8 am on 6 December. As many as 211 new deaths were reported in the country. With 8,834 recoveries, the active cases in India stood at 98,416.

India's Omicron tally is steadily rising with fresh cases of the variant in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Delhi. Seven in Maharashtra, nine in Jaipur and a man in Delhi were found positive with the variant, taking the total count in the country to 21.

RBI Meet:

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is scheduled to meet during 6 to 8 December 2021. MPC's interest rate decision will be disclosed on Wednesday, 8 December 2021. In the previous meeting, MPC kept the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 4%.

Numbers to Watch:

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 6.360% as compared with 6.369% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 75.4275, compared with its close of 75.12 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 4 February 2021 settlement rose 0.09% to Rs 47,946.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.04% to 96.16.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for February 2022 settlement rose $1.54 at $71.42 a barrel. The contract rose 21 cents, or 0.30% to settle at $69.88 a barrel in the previous trading session.

Foreign Markets:

European shares advanced while most Asian stocks ended lower on Monday. China's government bonds rallied amid bets the central bank will soon ease monetary policy to aid growth. The yield on the actively traded 10-year sovereign notes dropped five basis points, the most since mid-July, to 2.85%.

Wall Street's major indices closed lower on Friday, with the Nasdaq leading the declines as investors bet that a strong jobs report would not slow the Federal Reserve's withdrawal of support while they grappled with uncertainty around the Omicron coronavirus variant.

US employers added 210,000 jobs last month, a U.S. Labor Department report showed Friday. But average hourly earnings over the past 12 months rose 4.8%, the unemployment rate dropped to 4.2%, and the workforce grew by the most in 13 months.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization on Friday said the Covid omicron variant has been detected in 38 countries, up from 23 two days ago, with early data suggesting the strain is more contagious than delta.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index fell 2.70% to 34,879.40. The index has lost 3.54% in two sessions.

Coforge (down 4.25%), Larsen & Toubro Infotech (down 4.03%), TCS (down 2.93%), HCL Technologies (down 2.87%), L&T Technology Services (down 2.8%), Tech Mahindra (down 2.53%), Wipro (down 2.52%), Infosys (down 2.34%), Mindtree (down 2.05%) and Mphasis (down 1.94%) tumbled.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Lloyds Metals and Energy hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 83.60. The mining lease granted to the company for iron ore mines in Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra has been extended up till 2 May 2057.

Godrej Properties fell 2.97%. The real estate company on Monday announced that it will a develop a ‘luxurious' residential project in Delhi through a joint venture with TDI Group. The project is estimated to have a developable potential of approximately 125,000 square feet saleable area comprising primarily of residential apartments of various configurations.

Ramkrishna Forgings lost 2.14%. The company said it won a domestic order worth Rs 72 crore from an Indian OEM in the MHCV segment to be executed over a four-year period.

Cheviot Company surged 6.10% after the company's board approved a proposal to buyback equity shares worth upto Rs 43.12 crore. The company has proposed to buyback up to 2,50,000 equity shares, comprising 3.99% of the total paid-up equity capital of the company, at Rs 1,725 per share, for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 43.12 crore. The buyback price represents 25.96% premium as compared to Friday's closing price of Rs 1369.45 per share.

IRB Infrastructure Developers slipped 2.50%. CRISIL Ratings has revised its rating outlook on the long-term bank facilities of IRB Infrastructure Developers to 'Positive' from 'Stable' while reaffirming the rating at 'CRISIL A'.

Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) declined 1.68%. IEX said that it had traded 9,477 MU electricity volume and achieved 54% year on year growth in November 2021. On a sequential basis, the company's traded volume rose 3.4% in November 2021 from 9,165 MU traded in October 2021.

Tech Mahindra slipped 2.56%. The IT firm announced has the acquisition of 100% stake in US-based Activus Connect, a provider of work at home customer experience management solutions. For the financial year ended 31 December 2020, it recorded revenue of $17 million.

Lupin fell 1.74%. The pharmaceuticals maker has entered into an exclusive distribution and marketing agreement with Biomm SA in Brazil. Under the terms of agreement, Biomm will distribute and market biosimilar Pegfilgrastim in Brazil.

IPO Update:

The initial public offer (IPO) of Anand Rathi Wealth received bids for 8,28,05,301 shares as against 84,75,000 shares on offer on Monday (6 December 2021), according to stock exchange data at 16:30 IST. The issue was subscribed 9.77 times.

The issue opened for bidding on Thursday (2 December 2021) and it will close on Monday (6 December 2021). The price band of the IPO is fixed at Rs 530-550 per share. An investor can bid for a minimum of 27 equity shares and in multiples thereof.