New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade on Wednesday amid profit-taking as investors preferred to stay on the sidelines after a record rally and ahead of the monthly derivatives expiry.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 171 points to 84,743.04 in early trade. The NSE Nifty declined 48.7 points to 25,891.70.

From the 30 Sensex firms, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, HCL Technologies, Nestle, Adani Ports, Infosys, Tata Motors and State Bank of India were the biggest laggards.

Power Grid, Mahindra & Mahindra, HDFC Bank and Maruti were among the gainers.

"The monthly expiry on Thursday could result in sideways movement in intra-day trades, but a bullish undertone and robust growth prospects going ahead would see the markets bounce back at regular intervals," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

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

The US markets ended higher on Tuesday.

After oscillating between highs and lows during the day on Tuesday, the BSE benchmark dipped 14.57 points or 0.02 per cent to settle at 84,914.04. During the day, it jumped 234.62 points or 0.27 percent to scale a fresh all-time intra-day peak of 85,163.23.

The Nifty eked out a marginal gain of 1.35 points or 0.01 percent to 25,940.40. During the day, it climbed 72.5 points or 0.27 percent to hit a new record intra-day high of 26,011.55.

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