Stock markets fall in early trade on weak global trends

PTI

Mumbai, May 24

Equity benchmark indices began the trade on a weak note on Wednesday following a bearish trend in the global markets as investors preferred to remain on the sidelines ahead of the release of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes.

Halting a three-day rally, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 251.26 points to 61,730.53. The NSE Nifty declined 78.3 points to 18,269.70.

Among the Sensex firms, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints and Tata Motors were the major laggards.

Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti Suzuki India, Tech Mahindra, ITC and NTPC were among the winners.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading lower.

The US market ended in the negative territory on Tuesday.