The Sensex dropped 0.67% to 52783 points while Nifty was down 0.65% at 15820 points
Share markets in India saw a gap-down opening on Monday tracking losses in Asian stocks, with HDFC twins being the biggest laggards on the benchmark indices.
The benchmark Sensex dropped 0.67% to 52783 points while Nifty was down 0.65% at 15820 points at 9.30am.
Asian shares hit a one-week low on Monday, while safe-haven assets, including the yen and gold, gained amid fears of rising inflation and a surge in covid cases.
The first-quarter earnings season has started off on a strong note and will providing support to Indian markets, analysts said. Since the restrictions to contain covid infection this time around were localized and less stringent against the lockdown last year, the impact in 1QFY22 seems to be contained, they said.
Analysts expect earnings momentum to accelerate in FY22 as the pace of vaccinations picks up and the economy opens up further.
Going forward, Indian markets would keep an eye on US economic recovery and signals from the Fed, commodity prices, pace of vaccination process in India, unlock measures by various states, GST collections, monsoon development pan India and consistency of reforms from the government, said Shrikant Chouhan, executive vice president, equity technical research at Kotak Securities.
In energy markets, oil prices dropped over 1% globally after an agreement within the Opec+ group of producers to boost output at a time when the outlook for demand is still uncertain.
Global economic growth is beginning to show signs of slowing down as many countries, particularly in Asia, are struggling to curb the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus and have been forced to impose some lockdown restrictions. Investors are concerned about elevated inflation, which the market has long feared.