The Indian equity benchmark indices opened in the red on Friday, following choppy trading in global markets. Asian peers slipped as fears of a new COVID variant hampering economic recovery resurfaced. Japan's Nikkei 225 led the losses in the region, declining over 3 percent.

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At 9:15 am, the Sensex opened nearly 1 percent or 540 points lower at 58,254. Nifty50 index declined over 197 points or 1 percent to 17,338. The broader market indices were trading over half a percent lower. Among sectors, all the indices opened in the red, except Nifty Pharma.

Bluechips leading the gains on the Nifty50 index were Cipla, Dr Reddy's, Divi's Labs, and Adani Ports. Leading the losses were ONGC, HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, and Maruti.

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Globally, Asian shares declined with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down over 1 percent. These losses followed after the World Health Organisation said it is monitoring a new variant with a large number of mutations. The variant was found in South Africa.

US stock futures declined with Dow Futures plunging over 400 points as investors geared up for a shorter trading day on Wall Street. The Street was closed Thursday on account of Thanksgiving.

Over in commodities, US crude oil also declined over 2 percent on concerns that a global supply surplus could swell in the first quarter following a coordinated release of crude reserves among major consumers, led by the US.

(With inputs from Reuters)