Indian shares fell in line with Asian peers on Friday as a relentless surge in coronavirus cases threatened to disrupt economic recovery, although gains in heavyweight Reliance Industries Ltd helped limit losses.

The NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.27 per cent to 10,784.5 by 0357 GMT, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.25 per cent at 36,645.81. The indexes were, however, headed for their fourth straight week of gains.

Cases in the world’s second-most populous country jumped by 26,506 to 793,802 as of Friday morning, including 21,604 deaths, health ministry data showed.

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Asian shares and US stock futures too slipped as record surges in many US states stoked fears of new lockdowns that could hurt an economic recovery.

In Mumbai trading, large shadow lender Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd slid 1.6%, while private-sector lender IndusInd Bank Ltd dropped 2.8 per cent.

State-run Punjab National Bank fell 6.7 per cent after it reported loans made to Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd worth 36.89 billion indian rupees ($490.95 million) as “fraud”.

Reliance Industries Ltd rose as much as 1.4 per cent after BP paid the Indian conglomerate $1 billion to set up a joint network of thousands of petrol stations across India.

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