Markets fall amid mounting tension between India and Pakistan

Benchmark indices fell in early trade on Friday as tension mounted between India and Pakistan over the deadly terror attack at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.

Markets were also nervous over slipping Asian stocks after grim US retail sales figures raised doubts about the strength of the US economy.

At 11:15 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 293 points at 35,583 while the Nifty slipped 104 points at 10,641. The losses were spread across all sectors.

Dr Reddy Labs tumbled 5.9 per cent and was trading at Rs 2,510.30, JSW Steel down 3.6 per cent at Rs 270.60, Sun Pharma down 3.4 per cent at Rs 425.90 and Tata Motors down 2.8 per cent at Rs 155.30.

Among the gainers, however, were ONGC, GAIL, Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Powergrid.

Meanwhile, most Asian stocks were in the red after Thursday's data showed weakening US economy even as the United States and China engage in a fresh round of trade talks in a bid to resolve tariff disputes.

US retail sales slumped 1.2 per cent in December in the biggest drop since September 2009. On top of it, global oil prices soared as Saudi Arabia said it will cut crude exports and deliver an even deeper output cut.

-ANI