New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tanked in early trade on Thursday, dragged by decline in heavyweight stocks Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and spiralling conflict in the Middle East.

The BSE Sensex tumbled 1,264.2 points to 83,002.09 in early trade. The NSE Nifty slumped 345.3 points to 25,451.60.

From the 30 Sensex firms, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, Larsen & Toubro, Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Maruti, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were the major laggards.

JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma and NTPC were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Hong Kong traded lower while Tokyo quoted in the positive territory. Markets in mainland China will be closed for the rest of the week due to holiday.

The US markets ended marginally higher on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.15 percent to USD 74.75 a barrel.

"In Tuesday's trade, FIIs were net sellers of Rs 5,579 crore, while crude oil prices surged above USD 70 per barrel amid escalating tensions in the Middle East," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Equity markets were closed on Wednesday for Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti.

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