Sensex tumbled over 300 points, tracking losses in index majors Reliance Industries, HDFC twins and ICICI Bank, amid a weak trend in global markets, while Nifty dropped 77.75 points or 0.49 per cent, in early trade on Friday.

Across India, while overall daily Covid-19 tally continued to decline, number of new fatalities rose from 817 on Thursday to 911, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

After dropping 340 points in the opening session, the 30-share BSE index was trading 282.08 points or 0.054 per cent lower at 52,286.86 in initial deals, while Nifty dropped to 15,650.15.

Axis Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, shedding over 1 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, TCS, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and Bajaj Auto, while Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv, Dr Reddy’s, Sun Pharma and Titan were among gainers.

In the previous session, Sensex ended 485.82 points or 0.92 per cent lower at 52,568.94, while Nifty dropped 151.75 points or 0.96 per cent to 15,727.90.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 554.92 crore on Thursday, as per provisional exchange data.

Domestic equities continue to look soft due to weak global cues as of now, said Binod Modi, head of strategy at Reliance Securities. “While visible improvement in business momentum with ease of business curbs by states started offering comfort, the recent uptick in daily caseload and increasing positive rate could be a near term risk as we saw Japan imposed fresh restrictions in Tokyo yesterday,” he stated.

US stocks retreated in overnight trade as the weak tone across global equities on worries about a possible slowdown in recovery due to persistent supply bottlenecks and the spread of the delta variant weighed on sentiments.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo were trading in the red in mid-session deals, while Hong Kong was positive.

International oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.04 per cent to $74.09 per barrel.