Markets decline in early trade after two days of rally

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade on Wednesday after two days of gains amid selling in Tata Motors and weak trends in Asian markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 111.85 points to 81,809.44. The NSE Nifty dipped 39.2 points to 25,001.90.

Among the 30 Sensex firms, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Titan, HDFC Bank, JSW Steel, Tech Mahindra, UltraTech Cement and Axis Bank were the major laggards.

Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, ITC and Hindustan Unilever were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading lower.

The US markets ended mostly with gains on Tuesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 2,208.23 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.59 per cent to $69.60 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark climbed 361.75 points or 0.44 per cent to settle at 81,921.29 on Tuesday. The NSE Nifty surged 104.70 points or 0.42 per cent to 25,041.10.