The markets open in the negative dragged by selling in banks, financial, and metal stocks.
The benchmark Sensex nosedived 405 points of 0.81percent in the opening. The broader Nifty 50 index gave up was 147.50 points or 0.99 percent at at 14,747.40.
At 09:16 IST, the Sensex was down 456.30 points or 0.92% at 49309.64, and the Nifty was down 126.90 points or 0.85% at 14768.00. About 481 shares have advanced, 836 shares declined, and 62 shares are unchanged.
Reliance was trading with a negative bias at Rs 2,021.85 apiece on BSE, ahead of its January-March quarter results later in the day.
Bajaj Auto, ONGC, Divis's Labs, Dr Reddy's Labs, and Sun Pharma were the top performing stocks on the 50-share index. HDFC Bank was down 3 percent, followed by HDFC, ICICI Bank, Titan, and State Bank of India.
In the previous session, Sensex finished 32.10 points or 0.06 percent higher at 49,765.94, and Nifty advanced 30.35 points or 0.20 percent to 14,894.90.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 809.37 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 942.35 crore, according to provisional exchange data.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said, spiking COVID tells us that the light at the end of the tunnel, which the market is focussed on, is a long way away. But the market is taking cues from the second wave experience of other countries where the curve flattened and fell in around two months.
"This explains the resilience of the market in the midst of very negative COVID-related news. An important point to be understood is that global markets are highly correlated, and therefore, a major correction is likely to be global," he stated.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were trading on a negative note in mid-session deals.
Bourses on Wall Street ended with gains in overnight sessions.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.44 per cent higher at USD 67.75 per barrel.
