Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade on Friday amid weak global market trends and foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 314.56 points to 72,782.72 after a weak beginning. The NSE Nifty dropped 101.65 points to 22,045.

From the Sensex basket, Mahindra & Mahindra, Infosys, Axis Bank, HCL Technologies, NTPC and Asian Paints were the major laggards.

Bharti Airtel, Power Grid, State Bank of India and IndusInd Bank were among the gainers.

"The rebound in the market yesterday after the Wednesday crash is unlikely to be sustained. Brent crude rising to $85 and the 10-year US bond yield spiking to 4.29% are headwinds for the market.

"Results of the stress tests conducted by the mid and smallcap schemes of mutual funds expected today will be keenly watched by the market," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

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

The US markets ended in the negative territory on Thursday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,356.29 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge traded 0.79 per cent lower while the smallcap index quoted 0.28 per cent down.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.18 per cent to USD 85.27 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark climbed 335.39 points or 0.46 per cent to settle at 73,097.28 on Thursday. The NSE Nifty gained 148.95 points or 0.68 per cent to 22,146.65.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.