Indian shares inched lower on Monday after snapping two straight weekly falls, as more cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant were reported over the weekend.

By 0350 GMT, the blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) was down 0.27% at 17,150.05, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) dipped 0.12% to 57,627.59. The Nifty Realty index (.NIFTYREAL) was up about 1.30% in early trade.

India’s tally of reported cases of the heavily mutated Omicron variant rose to 21 on Sunday after the state of Maharashtra said it had detected seven new cases and Rajasthan detected nine.

Shares of Eris Lifesciences (ERIS.NS) jumped nearly 10% in early trade as the company marked its entry into the insulin segment with a joint venture with MJ Biopharm.

Broader Asian share markets were also off to a cautious start as Omicron emerged in more countries and investors faced a week-long wait for key U.S. inflation figures that could settle the course of interest rates.