Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade on Wednesday after a four-day rally tracking weak trends in Asian markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 146.64 points to 81,497.75 in initial trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 47.5 points to 24,933.15.

From the Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors, Trent, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Tata Motors were among the laggards.

However, Eternal, Bharti Airtel, Infosys and NTPC were among the gainers.

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

The US markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday.

Investors turned their attention towards US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's forthcoming statements at the Jackson Hole Symposium and minutes from the Fed's recent meeting.

Rising for the fourth trading day in a row on Tuesday, the Sensex edged higher by 370.64 points or 0.46 per cent to settle at 81,644.39. The Nifty climbed 103.70 points or 0.42 per cent to 24,980.65.

"The rally in the Nifty came in response to the unexpected announcements relating to GST reforms, which are likely to happen before Diwali. The market has been responding to the potential demand boost to sectors like automobiles, FMCG, insurance, and select financials, which are expected to benefit from the GST rationalisation.

"Improvement in India-China relations has also contributed to the rally. However, there is no scope for a sustained rally since the August 27th deadline for the 25 per cent secondary tariff on India is fast approaching," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 634.26 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.11 per cent to USD 65.86 a barrel.