Benchmark equity indices declined in early trade on Wednesday.
The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 81.35 points to 71,304.86. The Nifty dipped 27 points to 21,517.85.
At 10:09 am, Sensex was trading 37.64 points lower at 71,348.57, whereas Nifty was trading 18.95 points down at 21,525.90.
Among the Sensex firms, NTPC, Power Grid, Bajaj Finserv, State Bank of India, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro and Axis Bank were the major laggards
HCL Tech, Titan, Nestle, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank and Tata Consultancy Services were among the gainers.
Oil prices witnessed a slight uptick due to unexpected declines in US crude stocks, yet gains were limited by a larger-than-expected increase in product inventories.
Brent crude reached USD 77.88 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate settled at USD 72.53 per barrel.
