Picture used for illustrative purpose. File

Gulf Today Report 

Indian shares dropped on Monday as investors shift investment focus to safe-sectors due to surge in COVID-19 cases.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.4% to 14,687 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex dropped 0.6% to 49,579.75 as of 05:02 GMT.

Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president of research at SMC Global Securities in New Delhi said, "we are seeing some sectoral rotation with money going to information technology and pharma stocks.”

Daily coronavirus cases in India hit their highest on Monday since early November. 

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That has led to some regions imposing safety measures including lockdowns and restaurant closures.

On Monday, the Nifty bank index fell 0.9% and the finance index dropped 0.7%.

Investors fear that rise in cases and new restrictions will affect the paying back capacity of businesses, hurting banks, Jain said.

On the bright side, the Nifty IT index rose 0.8% and the pharma index gained 1.44%.