Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade on Tuesday amid a weak trend in Asian markets and foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 257.62 points to 62,910.68. The NSE Nifty declined 73.45 points to 18,682.

From the Sensex pack, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra, HDFC, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and IndusInd Bank were the major laggards.

Power Grid, Wipro, NTPC, Infosys, Tata Steel, and Bharti Airtel were the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were trading in the negative territory.

The US markets were closed on Monday on the observance of Juneteenth holiday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.17 per cent to USD 75.96 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,030.90 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

"FII & DIIs turning sellers in yesterday's trade, anxiety ahead of US Fed chief Powell's Wednesday testimony before the US Congress, and a delayed monsoon would prompt investors to trade with caution," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

After hitting its lifetime high on Friday, the 30-share BSE index fell 216.28 points or 0.34 per cent to settle at 63,168.30 on Monday. The Nifty went lower by 70.55 points or 0.37 per cent to end at 18,755.45.

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