Indian shares fall as fears of virus-led economic downturn linger
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BENGALURU - Indian shares opened lower on Friday, hurt by losses in tech and financial stocks, as the country continued to struggle with rising cases of the novel coronavirus that kept alive fears of continued economic pain.
The NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.3% to 14,366.95 by 0349 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex slid 0.37% to 47,899.1.
The country on Friday reported another record rise in daily coronavirus infections of 332,730, while the daily death toll also jumped by a record 2,263.
Meanwhile, credit rating agency Fitch forecast a negative outlook for India, citing deterioration in the country's "public finance metrics," and said surging infections may delay a recovery in its GDP.
IT stocks fell 0.3%, with Infosys Ltd losing 0.7%.
Finance stocks also declined. Lender ICICI Bank slid 0.9% to lead the losses on the benchmark index.
