Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade on Wednesday amid retail inflation soaring to a 14-month high of 6.21 per cent in October and unabated foreign fund outflows.

Muted quarterly earnings and weak trends in global markets were also the spoilsport for the markets, traders said.

The BSE benchmark Sensex declined 239.69 points to 78,435.49 in early trade. The NSE Nifty went down 103.15 points to 23,780.30.

From the 30-share Sensex pack, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, Nestle, and ITC were the biggest laggards.

Titan, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, and NTPC were among the gainers.

Retail inflation breached the Reserve Bank's upper tolerance level, soaring to a 14-month high of 6.21 per cent in October mainly on account of rising food prices.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,024.31 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

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

The US markets ended in the negative territory on Tuesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.35 per cent to USD 72.14 a barrel. The BSE benchmark tumbled 820.97 points or 1.03 per cent to settle at 78,675.18 on Tuesday. The Nifty tanked 257.85 points or 1.07 per cent to 23,883.45.

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