Stock markets declined in early trade on Tuesday amid constant foreign fund outflows and cautious investors' sentiment ahead of the US presidential elections and the Federal Reserve interest rate decision.

The BSE Sensex declined 326.58 points to 78,455.66 in early trade. The NSE Nifty went down by 86.7 points to 23,908.65.

From the 30-share Sensex pack, Adani Ports, ITC, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Power Grid and Hindustan Unilever were the biggest laggards.

JSW Steel, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, Maruti and Sun Pharma were among the gainers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,329.79 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

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

The US markets ended lower on Monday.

"Investors globally are bracing for heightened market volatility as the US heads into a closely contested presidential election...," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.12 per cent to USD 75.17 a barrel.

Investors remain cautious ahead of the US presidential election and the upcoming US Federal Reserve interest rate decision later this week, Vikas Jain, Head of Research at Reliance Securities, said.

The BSE benchmark tumbled 941.88 points or 1.18 per cent to settle at 78,782.24 on Monday, the lowest closing level since August 6. The Nifty tanked 309 points or 1.27 per cent to 23,995.35.

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