Markets open in red: Sensex down 117 pts at 54,403; Nifty falls 28 pts to 16,249

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty started the trade on a tepid note on Tuesday, halting their two-day rally, amid an overall weak trend in global markets.

The 30-share BSE benchmark was trading 117.3 points lower at 54,403.85 in early trade. The broader NSE Nifty declined 28.80 points to 16,249.70.

Among the Sensex constituents, Asian Paints, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, Nestle, Larsen & Toubro, IndusInd Bank and Titan were the biggest laggards.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement and Maruti were among the firms quoting in the green.

In Asia, markets in Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong were quoting lower, while Tokyo traded in the green.

The US markets had ended lower on Monday.

Markets are likely to decline in morning trades owing to weakness in other Asian gauges after overnight US indices ended lower, said Prashanth Tapse, Vice President (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

The BSE benchmark rallied 760.37 points or 1.41 per cent to settle at 54,521.15 on Monday. The Nifty had advanced 229.30 points or 1.43 per cent to 16,278.50.

International oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.35 per cent to USD 105.90 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors turned buyers as they bought shares worth ₹156.08 crore on Monday, as per exchange data.