Benchmark indices fell in early trade on Thursday, facing heavy volatility, amid emergence of profit-taking and negative trend in the US markets.

Hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell made investors cautious.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 150.18 points to 63,372.97 even after a positive beginning to the trade. The BSE benchmark hit an intra-day all-time peak of 63,601.71 in initial deals. However, the benchmark index faced volatile trends later and was trading marginally lower.

The NSE Nifty dipped 25.95 points to 18,830.90 in early trade.

From the Sensex pack, Infosys, Power Grid, Wipro, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever and Nestle were the biggest laggards.

Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Maruti, ITC and Reliance Industries were among the major gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul quoted in the green, while Tokyo traded lower.

The US markets ended in the negative territory on Wednesday.

"Markets are likely to ease in early trade on Thursday amid weak US and Asian indices, while a hawkish Federal Reserve backdrop could fuel some volatility. There are clear signals that the Fed may go for further rate hikes as Powell in his testimony before the US congress yesterday stressed that inflation remains high and the process to get back to 2 per cent has a long way to go," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.31 per cent to USD 76.88 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 4,013.10 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

"The Sensex hitting a new high will continue to sustain optimism in the market mood. Market has been bouncing back from the dips consistently, and this market construct has the potential to sustain the enthusiasm of the bulls.

"However, the big wall of worry is the rich valuation, which might invite institutional selling beyond a point," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

A negative trigger, from the global perspective, is Fed chief Powell's statement in the Congressional testimony, Vijayakumar added.

The Sensex climbed 195.45 points or 0.31 per cent to settle at a record closing high of 63,523.15 on Wednesday. The Nifty advanced 40.15 points or 0.21 per cent to end at its lifetime closing peak of 18,856.85.

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