Equity market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled in early trade on Thursday, continuing to decline for the fifth day running, dragged by Axis Bank and overall bearish global market trends.

The announcement of a hike in securities transaction tax and short term capital gains tax in the Budget for 2024-25, heavy foreign fund outflows and profit-taking after a record rally also impacted markets' sentiment negatively during the initial trade.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 671 points to 79,477.83. The NSE Nifty tumbled 202.7 points to 24,210.80.

From the Sensex pack, Axis Bank declined nearly 6 per cent after the company's June quarter earnings failed to cheer investors.

JSW Steel, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement and Titan were the other laggards.

Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the gainers.

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

The US markets ended significantly lower on Wednesday.

"Global cues have turned distinctly negative with a sharp 3.64 per cent cut in Nasdaq, which is the worst cut in 2024. The tech stocks which have been driving the rally in the US are facing the brunt of selling due to worse-than-expected results and news.

"In India, too, the sentiments have turned a bit negative on the Budget proposals to raise the capital gains tax," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 5,130.90 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.76 per cent to USD 81.09 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark declined 280.16 points or 0.35 per cent to settle at 80,148.88 on Wednesday. The NSE Nifty dropped 65.55 points or 0.27 per cent to 24,413.50.

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