Mumbai, Jan 8 (PTI) Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Thursday amid persistent foreign fund outflows and concerns about potential US tariff hikes.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 255.86 points to 84,705.28 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty went down by 65.9 points to 26,074.85.

From the 30-Sensex firms, Tata Consultancy Services, Asian Paints, Maruti, Tech Mahindra, Infosys and UltraTech Cement were among the biggest laggards.

However, ICICI Bank, Adani Ports, Bharat Electronics and Hindustan Unilever were among the gainers.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 1,527.71 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 2,889.32 crore, according to exchange data.

"From the fundamental perspective, there is good news for the economy and markets. Advanced estimates project the FY26 GDP growth at an impressive 7.4%. This reflects the underlying resilience of the economy despite Trump tariffs.

"However, this strong fundamental is unlikely to reflect in the market very soon since the much-awaited US-India trade deal, which is critical for India’s sustained growth and macro-economic stability, is not happening. This and the continuing FII selling are impacting the market," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

The Indian economy is expected to grow by 7.4 per cent in the current fiscal, maintaining its status as the world's fastest-growing major economy despite punitive US tariffs and geopolitical tensions.

The First Advance Estimates released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Wednesday put GDP growth in 2025-26 (April 2025 to March 2026 fiscal year) at better than 7.3 per cent forecast by the RBI and the government's initial projection of 6.3-6.8 per cent.

"With both the Nifty and Bank Nifty holding key support levels but encountering stiff overhead resistance, market sentiment remains cautious amid elevated geopolitical tensions, renewed tariff-related concerns, and continued foreign portfolio outflows," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.

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

US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed 0.40 per cent to USD 60.20 per barrel.

On Wednesday, the Sensex declined 102.20 points or 0.12 per cent to settle at 84,961.14. The Nifty went down by 37.95 points or 0.14 per cent to 26,140.75. PTI SUM SUM DR DR

Stock markets fall as foreign fund outflows and US tariff uncertainty weigh on investor sentiment despite strong GDP forecasts. Market indices opened lower due to persistent foreign portfolio outflows and uncertainty over potential US tariff measures and the absence of an anticipated US-India trade agreement; FIIs were net sellers while DIIs bought, and commentators linked market weakness to continued FII selling and trade-policy uncertainty despite official GDP growth projections near 7.4 percent.