MUMBAI: Benchmark equity indices declined in early trade on Wednesday amid fresh foreign fund outflows and a largely weak trend from global markets.

Investors preferred to stay on the sidelines ahead of the start of corporate earnings season and macroeconomic data announcements later this week, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 81.35 points to 71,304.86. The Nifty dipped 27 points to 21,517.85.

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.

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

The US markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 990.90 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.22 per cent to USD 77.76 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark ended marginally higher by 30.99 points or 0.04 per cent at 71,386.21 on Tuesday. The Nifty ended 31.85 points or 0.15 per cent up at 21,544.85.