Mumbai, Jul 16 (PTI) Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Wednesday in-line with a muted trend in global equities amid an uptick in US inflation.

Tariff-related uncertainty also made investors to stay on the sidelines, experts said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 103.16 points to 82,467.75 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty dipped 56.75 points to 25,139.05.

From the Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Eternal, Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv were among the major laggards.

However, Trent, Tech Mahindra, Adani Ports and HDFC Bank were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index and Shanghai's SSE Composite index quoted lower while Hong Kong's Hang Seng traded in the positive territory.

The US markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday.

"The market has been oscillating in a narrow range during the last two months. A breakout above the upper band of the range, well beyond Nifty 25,500, needs positive triggers. Such a trigger may come from an India-US trade deal with tariffs on India pegged at around 20 per cent. If this happens, can it trigger a sustained rally in the market? Unlikely. A sustained rally in the market needs earnings support," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

There are no signs of a strong earnings support and earnings growth visibility, he said. "Two big segments of the market - IT services and consumption, particularly FMCG - are struggling with tepid earnings," Vijayakumar added.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 120.47 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

"The Nifty is likely to open cautiously as traders digest sticky US inflation data and ongoing tariff threats...," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said in his pre-opening market commentary.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude went up by 0.20 per cent to USD 68.85 a barrel.

On Tuesday, the Sensex climbed 317.45 points or 0.39 per cent to settle at 82,570.91. The Nifty edged higher by 113.50 points or 0.45 per cent to 25,195.80. PTI SUM SUM DR DR

Tariff uncertainty and sticky inflation dampen market sentiment; robust earnings required for a sustained equity rally Tariff-related uncertainty combined with sticky US inflation weighed on early trading and investor sentiment, with indices tracking muted global peers and selective sector selling despite modest foreign institutional buying. Analysts noted that a potential India-US trade deal with tariffs near twenty per cent could improve sentiment, but sustained market gains would require clear earnings support, which was lacking in key segments such as IT services and consumer goods.