Indian equity benchmarks nosedived on Friday with the benchmark S-P BSE Sensex falling more than 1,400 points and Nifty 50 index dropping below its important psychological level of 17,100 on weak global cues after investor sentiment was dented by detection of a new and possibly vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant.
Reliance Industries, HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys and State Bank of India were among the top drags on the Sensex.Asian stocks suffered their sharpest drop in two months on Friday after the detection of a new and possibly vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant sent investors scurrying toward the safety of bonds, the yen and the dollar.MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.3 per cent, its sharpest drop since September.
Casino and beverage shares sold off in Hong Kong, and travel stocks dropped in Sydney.Japan's Nikkei skidded 2.5 per cent and United States crude oil futures fell nearly 2 per cent as well amid fresh demand fears.As of 11:00 am, the Sensex dropped 1,408 points to 57,315 and Nifty 50 index tumbled 426 points or 2.43 per cent to 17,110.Selling pressure was broad-based as all the 19 sector gauges compiled by the BSE were trading lower led by the S-P BSE Realty index's over 5 per cent decline.
Auto, Metal, Consumer Durables, Oil - Gas, Power, Industrials, IT, Telecom, Banking and Finance indices also fell between 2-3.5 per cent.Mid- and small-cap shares were also facing selling pressure as S-P BSE MidCap index dropped 2.72 per cent and S-P BSE SmallCap index declined 2 per cent.In the Nifty 50 basket of shares, 44 were trading lower led by ONGC's 2.74 per cent decline.
Maruti Suzuki, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Motors, Hindalco, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, HDFC, Grasim Industries, Titan, Mahindra - Mahindra and Reliance Industries also fell between 2-4per cent.On the flipside, Cipla, Dr Reddy's Labs, Sun Pharma, Divi's Labs, Power Grid and Coal India were among the notable gainers.The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 2,192 shares were declining while 896 were advancing on the BSE.