The decline was in tandem with the Asian indices where stocks fell due to the growing number of coronavirus cases and deaths worldwide.

 

The global coronavirus death toll crossed 51,000 late on Thursday with Italy (13,915) and Spain (10,003) accounting for nearly half the fatalities, while the number of cases were fast approaching a million, with the US having over a fifth of them, as per the Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Centre.

 

At 10 a.m., Sensex was trading 27,899.73, lower by 365.58 or 1.29 per cent from the previous close of 28,265.31.

 

It had opened at 28,623.53 and so far touched an intra-day high of 28,639.12 and a low of 27,800.07.

 

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 8,153.10, lower by 100.70 points or 1.22 per cent from its previous close.

 

Heavy selling was witnessed in banking, finance and metal stocks.

 

On the Sensex, Mahindra & Mahindra, ONGC and Bajaj Finance gained the most, while IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Asian Paints were the major losers.