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Indian equities plunged further on Friday amid weak global cues. At 11.53 p.m., the Sensex was trading down 1,263.05 points or 2.15% at 57,532.04 with 18 components falling. Meanwhile, the Nifty was trading lower by 382.20 points or 2.18% at 17,154.05 with 31 components falling.      Biggest gainers in the 30-share index were Dr Reddy’s (3.32%), Nestle India (0.57%) and TCS (0.17%).    On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki (3.96%), Tata Steel (3.86%), HDFC (3.72%), IndusInd Bank (3.46%), Mahindra & Mahindra (3.42%) and Bajaj Finnace (3.38%) were the major losers in the Sensex. Market breadth was positive with 1,049 advances against 2,095 declines.    On global front, Japanese equities declined by 2%, leading the losses in Asia as worries over a new variant of the coronavirus spurred risk-off moves across Asia. South Korea, Taiwan and Australia Index declined half to one percent. The variant recently discovered in South Africa carries an unusually large number of mutations and is clearly very different from previous incarnations. WTO meeting will be held today for discuss on new pandemic in South Africa.     European stocks advanced the most in three weeks as risk appetite outweighed concerns about withdrawal of stimulus and Covid-19 restrictions in the region. France Index gained half percent. Both UK and Germany Index soared quarter percent each. Gold steadied at USD 1793/ounce as investors weighed a swath of positive economic data from the U.S. and an indication from Federal Reserve officials of faster tapering.     U.S. data showing jobless claims at the lowest level in decades and an increase in consumer spending. US market will be open today for half day while Dow Future slipped over 0.5 and SGX Nifty declined 0.7%.      Hemang Jani, Head of Equity Strategy & Senior Group VP, Broking & Distribution, Motilal Oswal Financial Services opined, 'Equity markets have plunged almost 2% amid the emergence of a new, highly mutated Covid-19 variant. EU announced temporary ban of flights from South Africa and few EU countries are already under full lockdown scenario. Thus, there is fear of this new variant spreading to other countries which might again derail the global economy. Already there is uncertainty as to when the US Fed will start raising interest rates. So, markets might continue to reel under pressure and would actively track covid situation globally.'