New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade on Thursday, as profit-taking emerged in domestic equities after a record rally amid weak global market trends.
The 30-share BSE Sensex opened on a muted note and declined 251.93 points to 80,464.62 in initial trade. The NSE Nifty dipped 76.6 points to 24,536.40.
Among the Sensex pack, Asian Paints went lower by 2 percent after the company reported a 24.64 percent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,186.79 crore in the June quarter, hit by demand slowdown due to severe heatwave and general elections.
UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, JSW Steel and NTPC were among the other laggards.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai were trading lower, while Hong Kong quoted higher.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.35 percent to USD 85.38 a barrel.
Stock markets were closed on Wednesday on account of Muharram.
The NSE Nifty went up by 26.30 points or 0.11 percent to settle at an all-time closing high of 24,613. Intra-day, it rallied 74.55 points or 0.30 to hit a new record peak of 24,661.25.
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