Mumbai, Feb 5 (PTI) Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined in early trade on Thursday after a three-day rally amid a weak trend in global stock markets.

After starting the trade on a bearish note, the 30-share BSE Sensex further dropped 278.72 points to 83,538.97. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 94.15 points to 25,681.85.

From the Sensex firms, InterGlobe Aviation, Bharat Electronics, Axis Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel and Bharti Airtel were among the major laggards.

Hindustan Unilever, Trent, NTPC, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and State Bank of India were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi traded lower by over 3 per cent. Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index were also trading in negative territory.

US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday. The Nasdaq Composite index tumbled 1.51 per cent and S&P 500 declined by 0.51 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.53 per cent higher.

Foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 29.79 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) also bought stocks worth Rs 249.54 crore in the previous trade.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, dropped 2.07 per cent to USD 68.02 per barrel.

On Wednesday, the Sensex ended 78.56 points or 0.09 per cent higher at 83,817.69. The Nifty went up by 48.45 points or 0.19 per cent to settle at 25,776. PTI SUM SUM DR DR