The Indian equity moved lower on Friday on the back of weak global cues after Asian shares stumbled to two-month lows on Friday and were set for their worst weekly performance since February as confidence took a beating over the global spread of the Delta virus variant and worries it could stall a worldwide economic recovery.

The Sensex fell as much as 341 points and Nifty 50 index fell below its important psychological level of 15,650 paced by losses in HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Axis Bank.As of 9:27 am, the Sensex was down 273 points at 52,295 and Nifty 50 index slipped 66 points to 15,661.MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.9 per cent to 667.99, a level not seen since mid-May.

For the week so far, the index is down 3.2 per cent, the biggest decline since early February.Japan's Nikkei slid 2 per cent.

Chinese shares were weaker too with the blue-chip CSI300 index off 1.2 per cent.Back home, selling pressure was broad-based as nine of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty Private Bank index's over 1 per cent decline.

Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Services, Media, PSU Bank and Realty indices were also trading lower.On the other hand, metal and pharma shares were witnessing buying interest.Mid- and small-cap shares were trading mixed as Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading on a flat note while Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.2 per cent.Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was among the top Nifty loser, the stock fell nearly 1 per cent to Rs 3,227 after its net profit fell 2.6 per cent, sequentially, to Rs 9,008 crore.IndusInd Bank, Eicher Motors, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Bharat Petroleum, Reliance Industries, Shree Cements and ICICI Bank were also among the losers.On the flipside, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Dr Reddy's Labs, Hindalco, Bajaj Finserv, Divis Labs, Cipla and Adani Ports were among the gainers.The overall market breadth was positive as 1,434 shares were advancing while 1,115 were declining on the BSE.