Key factors behind the fall; Nifty breaks 17,000 today; Banks, Auto on selling spree

Indian stock markets extended losses on the back of weak global cues amid a broad-based selloff. The Nifty 50 index dropped below its important psychological level of 17,000 level in an intra-day deal for the first time since December 7. Besides, Omicron case increases also hurt the sentiments.

Reliance Industries, HDFC twins, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hindustan Unilever and SBI were among the top draggers on the Sensex. BSE Sensex is currently 57,229.94 down 671.2 points or 1.16% and Nifty50 is currently 17,046.20 down 202.20 points or 1.17%. Out of 50 stocks traded on the BSE, 9 advanced and 41 declined.

Here are the top factors behind the fall in Sensex and Nifty today.

Global markets: Asian stock markets slipped as Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.79% to close at 28,545.68, while the Topix index was down 1.42% to 1,984.47. Chinese mainland shares also tanked with the Shanghai Composite falling 1.16%. The stock market came under pressure after a rush of central bank meetings underlined the growing threat posed by a spike in global inflation, while fears about the omicron variant of COVID-19 added to a cautious mood.

As per media reports, the United States on Thursday said it was imposing trade restrictions on more than 30 Chinese research institutes and entities over human rights violations and the alleged development of technologies, such as brain-control weapons, that undermine U.S. national security.

Further, the Bank of England hiked interest rates on Thursday for the first time since the pandemic started. It raised its main interest rate from a historic low of 0.1% to 0.25% amid mounting inflation pressure.

Spelling pressure across the sector:  Barring Nifty IT shares which were trading higher, at this hour, however, the Nifty Auto index's nearly 2% decline, Nifty Bank, Financial Services, FMCG, Media, Metal, PSU Bank, Pharma, Private Bank, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas indices also fell between 0.8-2%.

Gainers & Losers: IndusInd Bank was the top Nifty loser, the stock fell over 4%, followed by Tata Motors, Kotak Bank, Titan and Bajaj Finserv on the Nifty index.

Infosys, Wipro, HCL Tech, Hindalco and Sun Pharma stocks surged in the weak market.

Omicron active cases: As per media sources, there was new 10 Omicron cases were logged in Delhi after the city saw the sharpest daily spike in coronavirus cases in nearly four months with 85 fresh infections. Followed by Maharashtra, the state with the highest overall Covid cases, has so far recorded the most number of Omicron cases at 32.

Karnataka, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh are the other states that've registered patients affected by the new variant, said to be highly transmissible.

Across India, over 90 cases of the new variant have been registered so far, the media reports added.

Yields, dollar under pressure: The dollar index was trading at 95.999, off nearly 1 per cent after the US Federal Reserve announced it would accelerate tapering of its emergency bond-buying programme and prepare to raise rates more quickly next year.

Broader market down again: Mid- and small-cap shares were underperforming their larger peers as the Nifty Midcap 100 index declined 1.2% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index dropped 1.3%.

Sell-off continue in FII: There is continued sell-off in FIIs, as net outflow on December 16 in the cash market stood at Rs1,468cr, even as DIIs net purchased Rs1,533cr.