Benchmark indices fall in early trade amid weak global markets

Equity benchmark indices fell in early trade on Wednesday, dragged down by index majors Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank, amid weak global market trends.

After a weak start, the 30-share BSE Sensex further declined 474.1 points to 58,722.89. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty fell 171.3 points to 17,484.30.

From the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, HCL Technologies, Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC, Infosys, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries were major laggards in early trade.

Power Grid, Asian Paints, Nestle and UltraTech Cement were among the gainers.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong were trading lower in mid-session deals.

The US markets had ended lower on Tuesday.

"When globally equities correct, India too will correct. But India will fall less since falling crude, decent economic growth, impressive corporate earnings and retail investor enthusiasm will support the market at lower levels," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The BSE benchmark settled 48.99 points or 0.08 per cent lower at 59,196.99 on Tuesday. The Nifty slipped 10.20 points or 0.06 per cent to 17,655.60.

Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.28 per cent to USD 91.61 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers as they bought shares worth Rs 1,144.53 crore on Tuesday, as per exchange data.

"Domestic equities are likely to join the global market slump in early trade on Wednesday, amid recurring worries of major central banks tightening interest rates to tackle rising inflation that could result in global slowdown," said Prashanth Tapse - Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd in his pre-market opening comment.

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