Equities trade negative in early trade; Sensex, Nifty slip over 1%

After rising substantially during the previous session, India's key benchmark equity indices -- S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 -- declined sharply in early trade on Friday.

Friday's decline is evidently due to profit booking.

At 9.40 a.m., Sensex traded at 58,269 points, down 1.1 per cent or 657 points from the previous close, Nifty traded at 17,398 points, down 1.2 per cent or 207 points from the previous close.

Among stocks, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Titan, and Bajaj Finance were the top five losers in the early trade, NSE data showed.

BPCL, IOC, Hindalco, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Coal India, on the other hand, were the top gainers.

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