Sensex, Nifty End Choppy Session Lower

Indian shares fluctuated before closing lower on Tuesday, as investors fretted over the economic impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant and looked ahead to a series of central bank meetings this week for directional cues.

The Federal Reserve begins its two-day meeting later in the day, with economists expecting the U.S. central bank to announce a faster tapering of its asset purchase program. It is widely expected that the Fed would bring forward the possible timing of the rate hike into 2022.

The monetary policy announcements from the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank are also due this week.

On the Covid-19 front, the United Kingdom reported the first death of a person infected with the Omicron variant, a day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared an “Omicron emergency” in the country.

New South Wales, the most-populous state of Australia, reported more than 800 cases, marking the highest new daily cases since October 2.

At least 20 listed companies have shut operations in virus-hit areas in Zhejiang, one of China’s biggest manufacturing hubs, as local authorities try to contain a Covid-19 outbreak.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex hit as low as 57,804 and rose to an intraday high of 58,322 before ending the session down 166.33 points, or 0.29 percent, at 58,117.09.

The broader NSE Nifty index settled at 17,324.90, down 43.35 points, or 0.25 percent, from its previous close.

Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Consumer Products, Bajaj Finance and ITC fell 2-3 percent in the Nifty pack.

On the positive side, PowerGrid Corp shares jumped 3.9 percent after most analysts said the company will benefit from its focus on renewable energy.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Nestle India, Axis Bank and Divis Laboratories rose 1-2 percent.

Lupin soared 7 percent after an announcement that it has received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the U.S. FDA for its Goa manufacturing facility.

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