India's stock benchmarks witnessed the steepest intraday decline in more than eight months as the rapid spread of the Omicron triggered concerns that a return of stricter curbs to contain the new Covid-19 variant may hurt a nascent recovery in the Indian economy.
The S&P BSE Sensex slumped nearly 1,900 points to 55,134.68, while the Nifty 50 touched 16,400. That, according to Bloomberg data, is the worst fall since April 12, 2021. The gauges, however, pared some of the losses to close 2% lower.
Bharat Petroleum Corp. was the biggest laggard on the Nifty 50, followed by Tata Steel Ltd. and Tata Motors Ltd. Only three of the 50 constituents gained, led by Cipla Ltd.
All the 19 sectoral indices compiled by the BSE Ltd. declined. Realty shed 6%, the most among others. Metal, oil and gas; banks and finance stocks dropped nearly 4%.
The broader indices lagged larger peers. The S&P BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices declined over 3% each.
With Monday's decline, India's benchmarks have lost nearly 10% from their peaks hit on Oct. 19.
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