Opening bell: Sensex down to 61,832 points, Nifty in red at 18,257

Within Sensex, the major laggards were Wipro, Infosys, HCL Technologies, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finserv, and Bajaj Finance.

Market benchmark indices declined in early trade on Wednesday, extending their previous day's fall, dragged down by IT counters and a weak trend in the US equities.

A man looks at a screen across a road displaying the Sensex on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India. (File image) (REUTERS)

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 100.87 points to 61,831.60 after a flat start to the trade. The NSE Nifty dipped 29.1 points to 18,257.40.

Among the Sensex firms, Wipro, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finserv, and Bajaj Finance were the major laggards.

Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro, ITC, UltraTech Cement, and State Bank of India were among the gainers.

In Asia, Seoul, and Tokyo markets were trading in the green, while Shanghai and Hong Kong quoted lower.

The US market ended lower on Tuesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were buyers on Tuesday as they bought equities worth ₹1,406.86 crore, according to exchange data.

"As a batsman approaches a century, he might get stuck for a while in the 'nervous nineties'. It appears that the market is in a similar state while approaching a new all-time high.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.16 per cent to USD 75.03 per barrel.

On Tuesday, the 30-share BSE benchmark had declined 413.24 points or 0.66 per cent to settle at 61,932.47. The Nifty went lower by 112.35 points or 0.61 per cent to end at 18,286.50.

"Caution is likely to prevail further and one may see extended profit-booking in next few sessions, as investors would focus on global mood," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities Ltd, said.