Continuous sell-off by foreign investors along with fears of the new Covid variant -- Omicron -- dragged India's key equity indices -- S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 -- into the red on Tuesday.
Notably, the indices opened the session on a positive note.
The barometer 30-scrip Sensex closed at 57,064 points, down by 195 points or 0.34 per cent from its previous close.
Similarly, the broader 50-scrip Nifty closed the day at 16,983 points, down by 71 points or 0.4 per cent from its previous close.
In terms of stocks, shares of Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, JSW Steel, Adani Ports and Bajaj Auto were the top losers during the session, NSE data showed.
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As per NSE, stocks of these companies closed 4.01 cent, 3.10 per cent, 2.69 per cent, 2.65 per cent and 2.07 per cent down, respectively.
On the contrary, stocks such as Power Grid, Shree Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Titan and Tata Consumers were the top gainers during the session, data showed.
"On a daily chart, the index has formed a bearish candle which suggests weakness for the next trading sessions," said Palak Kothari, Research Associate at Choice Broking.
According to Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services: "Global markets remained weak over concerns about the effectiveness of current vaccines against this new Omicron variant. Sentiments got charred following Moderna's statement that existing Covid-19 vaccines would struggle to cope with the omicron variant, predicting a 'material drop' in their effectiveness."
"Going ahead, we expect the market to witness higher volatility in the near term given the uncertainty around the new Omicron variant. As the clarity would emerge over the next few weeks with regard to its transmission, impact on hospitalization, mortality, etc, the market direction would be decided in due course."
Besides, shares of Go Fashion made its debut on the exchanges with a premium of 90 per cent at Rs 1,316 on Tuesday. The company's share was issued at Rs 690 per share.
