Mew Delhi: Benchmark equity indices declined in early trade on Monday after a record-breaking rally last week as investors went in for profit-taking amid a largely weak trend in Asian markets.

Snapping its three-day rally, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 341.46 points to 71,142.29. The Nifty dipped 65.30 points to 21,391.35. Among the Sensex firms, ITC, ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank and UltraTech Cement were the major laggards.

Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries, Titan and Bajaj Finance were among the gainers. In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong quoted lower while Seoul traded in the green.

The US markets ended mostly with gains on Friday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.46 percent to USD 76.90 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued their buying momentum as they bought equities worth Rs 9,239.42 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Rising for the third day running, the BSE benchmark jumped 969.55 points or 1.37 percent to settle at its record closing high of 71,483.75 on Friday. The Nifty climbed 273.95 points or 1.29 percent to settle at its new closing high of 21,456.65.

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