Mumbai, Feb 7 (PTI) Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty traded lower in a volatile trade on Friday morning ahead of the RBI's monetary policy decision.

After beginning the trade on a positive note, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex failed to carry forward the momentum and declined 87.32 points to 77,970.84 during the early trade. The NSE Nifty dipped 32.6 points to 23,570.75.

From the 30-share blue-chip pack, PowerGrid, ITC, State Bank of India, Nestle, HCL Tech, Tata Consultancy Services, Reliance Industries and Asian Paints were among the biggest laggards.

Diversified entity ITC Ltd on Thursday reported a 7.27 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 5,013.16 crore for the December quarter on account of subdued demand and sharp escalation in input costs.

Bharti Airtel's stock surged nearly 4 per cent after the firm reported a more than five-fold jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 16,134.6 crore boosted by consolidation of the Indus Tower business and benefits of tariff hikes flowing into the quarter.

Tata Steel, Zomato, UltraTech Cement and Mahindra & Mahindra were the other gainers.

"Today, market focus shifts to the RBI MPC meeting outcome," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

New RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra, who is chairing his first Monetary Policy Committee (MPCC) meeting, will announce the decision of the six-member panel on Friday morning, amid widespread expectations of 25 basis points reduction in interest rate after a gap of nearly five years.

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

US markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.54 per cent to USD 74.68 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,549.95 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

On Thursday, the BSE bellwether gauge dropped 213.12 points or 0.27 per cent to settle at 78,058.16. The Nifty declined 92.95 points or 0.39 per cent to 23,603.35. PTI SUM DRR

Monetary policy: impending RBI decision drives volatile trading and weighs on equity benchmarks ahead of the announcement. Equity benchmarks fell in volatile trade ahead of the Reserve Bank's monetary policy decision, with expectations of a modest interest-rate reduction driving caution. Major blue-chip stocks led declines while select firms gained on corporate developments. Market sentiment reflected mixed corporate earnings, firmer crude, weaker Asian peers and sizeable foreign institutional equity outflows, with the Monetary Policy Committee announcement under the new Governor as the main near-term catalyst.