Stock markets decline in early trade amid rising crude oil prices

New Delhi: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty drifted lower in early trade on Wednesday as higher crude oil prices weighed on investors' sentiment.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dipped 35.99 points to 78,097.31 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty skidded 31.15 points to 24,444.55.

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Further in the trade, the BSE benchmark dropped 211.37 points to 77,953.66, and the Nifty traded 65.10 points down at 24,411.15.

From the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Adani Ports, Titan and Bajaj Finance were among the major laggards.

State Bank of India, Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank and Asian Paints were among the winners.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, traded 1.24 percent higher at USD 90.01 per barrel.

"The market is defying a breakout on the upside and is moving sideways. The principal factor restraining a rally is the strengthening Brent crude which has again moved above USD 89 level.

"The off and on in the US-Iran skirmishes continues with the latest attack by US military on a Panama-flagged container ship," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea's KOSPI jumped 4.59 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 and Shanghai's SSE Composite index also traded higher, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index quoted lower.

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US markets ended lower on Tuesday.

"Overnight cues from Wall Street were subdued, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average each declining about 0.3 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.6 percent, as investors turned cautious ahead of Wednesday's US consumer price inflation data and amid the continuing stalemate between Washington and Tehran over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth-tech firm, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 258.55 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

On Tuesday, the Sensex dropped 388.19 points, or 0.49 percent, to settle at 78,154.25. The Nifty declined 112.10 points, or 0.46 percent, to end at 24,471.70.

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