Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade on Thursday, continuing their weak momentum, amid negative trend in global markets and fresh foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 502.5 points to 63,546.56. The Nifty fell 159.55 points to 18,962.60.

Among the Sensex firms, Tech Mahindra traded nearly 3 per cent lower after the company posted 61 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 505.3 crore for July-September period mainly on account of reduced spending by clients.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, JSW Steel, Tata Motors, Nestle and Titan were the other major laggards.

Axis Bank emerged as the only gainer after the firm reported a 10 per cent increase in September 2023 quarter net profit to Rs 5,864 crore on higher interest income.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were quoting lower.

The US markets ended in the negative territory on Wednesday.

"There is risk-off in global equity markets triggered by a combination of economics and geopolitics. The Israel-Hamas conflict continues to be a major headwind for markets. If the conflict lingers for long it has the potential to impact global growth,too, when the global economy is already in the midst of a slowdown.

"In the near-term, however, the strongest headwind for the market is the stubbornly high US bond yields. With the 10-year bond yield at near 5 per cent FPIs are likely to be in the sell mode," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.29 per cent to USD 89.87 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,236.60 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark tanked 522.82 points or 0.81 per cent to settle at 64,049.06 on Wednesday. The Nifty fell 159.60 points or 0.83 per cent to 19,122.15.

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