Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade Wednesday after rallying in the past four days amid weak trends in Asian markets.
Paring its four-day rally, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 261.4 points to 62,707.73. The NSE Nifty declined 79.95 points to 18,553.90.
From the Sensex pack, State Bank of India, HDFC, Reliance Industries, NTPC, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finserv, and Tata Steel were the major laggards.
Sun Pharma, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, Tata Motors, and Nestle were among the gainers.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were trading lower.
The US markets ended on a mixed note Tuesday.
“Markets may see a cautious opening with a slightly negative bias in Wednesday trade amid weak global cues,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd said in his pre-opening market comment.
Investors will also keep an eye on the Q4 GDP numbers to be announced later Wednesday, which will provide some sense of where the economy is headed in the near to medium term, he added.
Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.26 per cent to USD 73.37 a barrel.
The Sensex climbed 122.75 points or 0.20 per cent to settle at 62,969.13 Tuesday. The Nifty advanced 35.20 points or 0.19 per cent to end at 18,633.85.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 2,085.62 crore, according to exchange data.