Equity benchmarks declined in early trade on Tuesday amid mixed trends in Asian markets and continuous foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex went lower by 159.01 points to 61,008.78. The broader NSE Nifty dipped 47.65 points to 18,149.80.

From the Sensex pack, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Nestle and HDFC were the major laggards.

Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Asian Paints were among the winners.

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

Markets in the US were closed on Monday.

"As US markets were shut on Monday, traders may wait for cues from European indices in the noon trades. The key catalyst lined up this week is the Federal Reserve's December meeting minutes to trickle in on Thursday," said Prashanth Tapse - Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

The BSE benchmark had climbed 327.05 points or 0.54 per cent to settle at 61,167.79 on Monday. The Nifty advanced 92.15 points or 0.51 per cent to end at 18,197.45.

International oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.27 per cent to USD 85.68 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 212.57 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

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