Markets decline in initial trade; Sensex shreds 104.33 points

Mumbai: Market benchmarks declined in initial trade on Wednesday amid continuous foreign fund outflows and weak trend in index major Reliance Industries.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 104.33 points to 61,189.87. The broader NSE Nifty dipped 32.45 points to 18,200.10.

From the Sensex pack, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Wipro, Bajaj Finance, Power Grid, Infosys, Reliance Industries and Bajaj Finserv were the major laggards.

Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, UltraTech Cement and Hindustan Unilever were the winners.

Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading in the green, while Tokyo quoted lower.

Markets in the US ended lower on Tuesday.

"Overnight fall in the US markets would drag down local markets in early Wednesday trade, but optimism in other Asian peers could fuel a rebound intra-day. Investors will be keeping an eye on the Federal Reserve's December meeting minutes to trickle in on Thursday. FIIs were again on the sell side in yesterday’s trade," said Prashanth Tapse - Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

The BSE benchmark had climbed 126.41 points or 0.21 per cent to settle at 61,294.20 on Tuesday. The Nifty gained 35.10 points or 0.19 per cent to end at 18,232.55.

International oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.18 per cent to USD 81.95 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 628.07 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.