Sensex falls by over 200 points on COVID-19 woes

Equity benchmark indices swung between gains and losses to close 0.4 per cent lower on Friday as traders seemed reluctant to carry gains into the weekend amid rising COVID-19 cases.

Investors said the surging infections triggered fears about stricter restrictions which may dent business activity in near-term.

Tthe BSE S&P Sensex closed 202 points or 0.42 per cent lower at 47,878 while the Nifty 50 slipped by 65 points or 0.45 per cent to 14,341.

Except for Nifty PSU bank, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the negative terrain with Nifty realty dipping by 1.1 per cent, FMCG by 0.9 per cent IT by 0.8 per cent and auto by 0.5 per cent.

Among stocks, FMCG major Britannia dropped by 2.6 per cent to Rs 3,651.80 per share while Hindustan Unilever fell by 1.7 per cent to Rs 2,309.

Mahindra & Mahindra dipped by 2.5 per cent, Dr Reddy's by 2.4 per cent, Wipro by 2.3 per cent and ICICI Bank by 2 per cent.

However, those which gained marginally were NTPC, Power Grid Corporation, HDFC Life, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank.

Meanwhile, Asian shares rose supported by a decision by the European Central Bank to maintain stimulus. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan shook off early small losses to rise by 0.3 per cent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up by 1.12 per cent and Seoul's Kospi added 0.27 per cent. Japan's Nikkei stock index slid 0.57 per cent.

( With inputs from ANI )