INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Indian equity benchmarks fell on Monday as the country recorded more cases of the Omicron variant over the weekend, while investors awaited
a central bank decision that could leave interest rates on hold to sustain an economic recovery from the pandemic lows in 2020.The Sensex
fell 1.40 per cent and was set to mark its second straight session of losses
The Nifty Realty index rose nearly 2 per cent, while the Nifty Metal index climbed 1.35 per cent."Metal stocks are currently at an
attractive valuation and we don't see any more correction in them in the near term
IT has performed well overall, but since activity in the United States is much lower for December, a slightly muted performance can be
expected," said Anita Gandhi, director at Arihant Capital Markets.The Nifty Auto index fell more than a per cent due to overall weak
November sales data.International markets are likely to slow down on Omicron concerns and Indian markets are expected to follow suit for
some more time as there are no fresh positive triggers, Gandhi said.India's tally of reported cases of the heavily mutated Omicron
coronavirus variant rose to 12 on Sunday after the state of Maharashtra said it had detected seven new cases.The three-day monetary policy
committee meeting of the Reserve Bank of India started on Monday
According to a Reuters poll of economists, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will hold rates at its December meeting and hike its reverse repo
rate early next year and increase repo rate the following quarter.While the RBI is expected to maintain status quo on the interest rate
policy, investors will watch out for commentary from the central bank to get direction.
