Asian stock markets plunged today as surging Omicron cases triggered tighter restrictions in Europe.

The spread of Omicron saw Netherlands go into lockdown on Sunday and put pressure on others to follow, though the United States seemed set to remain open.

The Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite are trading down by 1.3% and 0.8%, respectively. The Nikkei fell 2%.

In US stock markets, Wall Street indices came under pressure in Friday's volatile session amid worries about tighter monetary policy and the ongoing pandemic, leading to a losing week for the major averages.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 532 points, or 1.5% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended the session less than 0.1% lower after briefly trading in the green.

The major averages posted a negative week with Nasdaq being the biggest loser. It declined nearly 3%, while the Dow and the S&P 500 slipped 1.7% and 1.9%, respectively.

Back home, Indian share markets opened deep in the red following the trend on SGX Nifty.

Benchmark indices plunged today as investors continue to track the spread of the Omicron Covid variant. The World Health Organization recently warned that the number of cases is doubling in 1.5 to 3 days in areas with community spread.

Asian markets added to the pressure after China slashed its benchmark lending rate for the first time in more than one-and-a-half years.

Meanwhile, Shriram Properties made its Dalal Street debut today. The south India-based real estate player sold its shares in the range of Rs 113-118 between 8-10 December to raise Rs 6 bn via IPO. Ahead of the listing, the scrip was trading at a discount of Rs 10-15 in the grey market.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 1,059 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 323 points.

Wipro is among the top gainers today. Bajaj Finance and Tata Steel, on the other hand, are among the top losers today.

Broader markets are under heavy pressure today. The BSE Mid Cap index is down 2.3%. The BSE Small Cap index is trading lower by 2.6%.

All sectoral indices are trading in red with stocks in the realty sector, oil & gas sector and banking sector witnessing most of the selling.

The rupee is trading at 76.15 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading up by 0.2% at Rs 48,594 per 10 grams.

Gold edged higher today, hovering near a three-week high hit in the previous session, as fears over the rapidly spreading Omicron coronavirus variant boosted the metal's safe-haven appeal.

Crude oil prices swung lower amid concerns the spread of the Omicron variant would crimp demand for fuel and signs of improving supply.

In news from the power sector, central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) from the power sector have registered 45% growth in investment on capital expenditure over the previous year, the power ministry has said.

For the ongoing fiscal 2022, the capex target of the CPSEs, under the Ministry of Power, is Rs 506.9 bn, according to a power ministry statement.

Power sector CPSEs incurred a capex of Rs 221.3 bn till November 2020, which was 49.3% of the total expenditure for the fiscal.

However, it stated that during 2021-22, the CPSEs have so far invested capex of Rs 321.4 bn, which is 63.4% of the annual capex target.

The capex performance of the ministry in absolute as well as relative terms is better compared to the previous year. In absolute terms, it has shown a growth of 45%.

Even in the schemes for infrastructure development, the ministry has been making good progress, a statement issued by the power ministry said.

In other news, with a regulatory requirement for top-500 listed firms to split the position of chairperson and managing director being less than four months away, pressure is mounting on several power PSUs to ensure compliance, especially after state-run ITDC complied with this rule following Sambit Patra's appointment as chairman.

While the capital markets regulator had initially asked listed companies to separate the roles of chairperson and MD/CEO from 1 April 2020 onwards, it decided to give additional two years for compliance based on industry representations.

As per a leading financial daily, at the end of 2020, only 53% of the top 500 listed entities had complied with this provision.

A majority of power PSUs that are part of top-500 listed companies by markecap are required to split the post by 1 April 2022. These include NTPC, NHPC, PGCIL, REC, PFC, SJVNL, PTC India.

We will keep you updated on the latest developments from this space. Stay tuned.

Speaking of the power sector, it's interesting to note the power exchanged in India is about 4.5% of the overall power production, as can be seen in the chart below.

Moving on to stock-specific news...

Cipla is among the top buzzing stocks today.

Drug major Cipla on Sunday said it has received approval from the USFDA to market the Lanreotide injection, used for the treatment of acromegaly and gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, in the American market.

The approval is based on a new drug application (NDA).

Cipla MD and Global CEO Umang Vohra said:

This approval is a significant step for our US business and is in line with our aspiration to continue growth in our complex product pipeline and address unmet patient needs.

The company's product is a generic equivalent of Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals Inc's Somatuline Depot.

According to IQVIA, Somatuline Depot had US sales of around US$867 m for the 12-month period ended October 2021.

Shares of Cipla have opened the day up by 3.2%.