Equity benchmarks declined in initial trade on Thursday, mirroring a weak trend in the US markets and fresh foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 215.79 points to 60,829.95. The broader NSE Nifty dipped 64.10 points to 18,101.25.

From the Sensex pack, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, Larsen & Toubro, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services and Nestle were the biggest laggards.

Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid and HDFC Bank were the gainers.

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

Markets in the US had ended lower on Wednesday.

"Markets are likely to crack in early trade on Thursday as overnight sell-off in the US markets could dampen investors' sentiment after Fed officials reiterated their determination to bring inflation down through more interest rate hikes. Also, fears of a US recession are spurring risk aversion across global stock markets," said Prashanth Tapse - Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

The 30-share BSE benchmark had climbed 390.02 points or 0.64 per cent to settle at 61,045.74 on Wednesday. The Nifty had rallied 112.05 points or 0.62 per cent to end at 18,165.35.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Wednesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 319.23 crore, according to exchange data.

International oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.09 per cent to USD 84.06 per barrel.

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