Investor wealth fell by Rs.580,016.37 crore in two trading sessions through Monday, as stock markets continued to face strong sell-off amid concerns over the Omicron variant of COVID-19 .

The 30-stock BSE Sensex index fell 949.32 points or 1.65% to close at 56,747.14 on Monday. In the previous session, the benchmark had finished 764.83 points or 1.31% lower at 57,696.46.

The market capitalization of companies listed on the BSE fell from Rs 580,016.37 crore to Rs 2,567,774.66 crore in two days.

Markets plunged sharply and lost more than one and a half percent, building on Friday’s drop. After the flat start, weak global indices and updates on the new COVID variant started to weigh on sentiment as the day wore on, ”said Ajit Mishra, Vice President – Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

In India, up to 21 cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 have been reported so far with 17 cases – nine people in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, seven in the Pune district of Maharashtra and a man of 37 fully vaccinated year-old who arrived in Delhi from Tanzania – reported on Sunday.

According to the Indian Medical Association, Omicron has been shown to be less potent in causing serious infections, but certainly five to 10 times more contagious than the Delta variant.

All of the Sensex companies finished in the red. IndusInd Bank was the biggest laggard, losing 3.75%, followed by Bajaj Finserv and Bharti Airtel.

Across the market, mid and small cap BSE indices fell 1.35% each.

“Concerns over the new variant of Covid and the upcoming RBI interest rate meeting have kept the market volatile,” said Siddhartha Khemka, head of retail research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

(This story was not edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)