Benchmark equity indices declined in early trade on Thursday ahead of RBI's monetary policy decision amid a weak trend in global markets.

Investors also remained on the sidelines ahead of the US inflation data announcement.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 235.99 points to 65,759.82. The NSE Nifty declined 64.2 points to 19,568.35.

From the Sensex pack, Asian Paints, HCL Technologies, ITC, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra, Nestle and Bharti Airtel were the major laggards.

NTPC, UltraTech Cement, Power Grid, Maruti and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Tokyo traded in the green, while Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong quoted lower.

The US markets ended in the negative territory on Wednesday.

"The market today will be focussed on the MPC's decision on rates, stance and communication on tone. The near market consensus is that the rates and stance will remain unchanged and the tone will be hawkish in view of the high inflation.

"Any deviation from these expectations can move the markets," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Globally markets would be focused on the US CPI numbers to be released today, Vijayakumar said, adding that the Fed's rate action will be based on that.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Wednesday after continuous offloading of equities for the past several days. They bought equities worth Rs 644.11 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.16 per cent to USD 87.41 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark had climbed 149.31 points or 0.23 per cent to settle at 65,995.81 on Wednesday. The Nifty gained 61.70 points or 0.32 per cent to end at 19,632.55.

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