Investors lose Rs 10 lakh crore within minutes as Omicron fear spooks global markets

Investors lost over Rs 10 lakh crore in market wealth within 10 minutes of opening as benchmark indices crashed in line with global peers singed by threat to the global recovery amid rising Omicron cases.      

Market cap of BSE-listed firms fell by Rs 10.47 lakh crore to Rs 253.56 lakh crore in early trade.The market cap stood at Rs 264.03 lakh crore in the previous session.

Sensex tanked 1,098 points to 55,912 and Nifty plunged 324 points to 16,661. All Sensex components were trading in the red.

The rising number of cases of Omicron variant  at home also kept sentiment nervous in Indian market.

India reported its 150th case of the new COVID-19 variant on Sunday (December 19, 2021). The country's Omicron count rose to 153 after Maharashtra and Gujarat added ten more infections.

Later, Indian market extended losses  with Sensex plunging nearly 1,300 points.

India VIX zoomed 13.52% to 18.55 against the previous close of 16.34, indicating heightened volatility in the Indian market.

Global markets

Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower amid concern about the coronavirus's latest variant and tighter Federal Reserve policy.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was trading 19 points lower at 7,284. Nikkei plunged 613 points to 27,931 and Shanghai Composite was trading 31 points lower at 3,601. Hang Seng index fell 340 points to 22,851.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 ended 48 points lower at 4,620, the Nasdaq lost 10 points to 15,169 and the Dow Jones fell 532 points to 35,365.