Sensex tanks 981 points; settles below 60k

Equity benchmarks tumbled nearly 2 per cent on Friday in tandem with weak Asian market trends as investors sentiment remained muted in view of the COVID-19 surge in some countries.

The 30-share BSE Sensex continued to remain under selling pressure for the fourth day running and slumped 980.93 points or 1.61 per cent to settle at 59,845.29.

During the day, it tanked 1,060.66 points or 1.74 per cent to 59,765.56.

On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty dropped 320.55 points or 1.77 per cent to end at 17,806.80.

From the Sensex pack, Tata Steel plunged nearly 5 per cent. Other major laggards were Tata Motors, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finserv, Reliance Industries, Wipro, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Maruti Suzuki.

Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the red.

"Markets plunged sharply lower and lost about two per cent, in continuation to the prevailing corrective trend," said Ajit Mishra, VP - Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

International oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.89 per cent to $82.51 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned buyers as they bought shares worth a net Rs 928.63 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.