Opening bell: Sensex in red below 64,920 points, Nifty trades at 19,420

Benchmark equity indices declined in early trade on Thursday amid continuous foreign fund outflows and mixed trends from global markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 102.13 points to 64,873.48. The Nifty dipped 34.35 points to 19,409.15.

Among the Sensex firms, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Bank, Infosys and JSW Steel were the major laggards.

Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Maruti, Wipro, Larsen & Toubro and Tata Motors were among the gainers.

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

The US markets ended on a mixed note on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.23 per cent to USD 79.72 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹84.55 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark advanced 33.21 points or 0.05 per cent to settle at 64,975.61 on Wednesday. The broader Nifty went up by 36.80 points or 0.19 per cent to 19,443.50.