Mumbai, Apr 19 (IANS): Rising cases of Covid-19 infections along with imposition of new restrictions on movement to curb the virus' spread, pulled the Indian equity markets lower on Monday's mid-afternoon trade session.

Accordingly, all major sectors other than the healthcare were trading in the red.

Around 1.45 p.m., Sensex traded at 47,858.33, lower by 973.70 points or 1.99 per cent from its previous close.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange traded at 14,330.40, down 287.45 points or 1.97 per cent from its previous close.

"Market opened with a huge gap down despite positivity in the other Asian markets," said Gaurav Garg, Head of Research at CapitalVia Global Research.

"Traders got worried, as the Shopping Centre Association of India (SCAI) said businesses have been severely impacted, with the revenue falling by almost 50 per cent due to localised lockdowns to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country."

According to Garg, Indian market is expected to trade in a consolidated range between 14,200-14,350.

"14180-14200 will act as a support in the short term. If the market breaks the support range, we can expect the market to correct till the level of 13,600."