Sensex fell for the third day in a row on Thursday, falling 354.54 points in early trade as profit-taking in HDFC twins and poor global equities dragged the benchmark index lower.

The 30-share Sensex slid 354.54 points to 59,255.87, while the broader Nifty 50 dropped 91.35 points to 17,716.30.

Also Read| Trending Stocks: Zee, Uma Exports, Titan, HDFC Bank and others in news today

The top drags in early trade were HDFC, HDFC Bank, Titan, Wipro, TCS, Nestle, and Reliance Industries Limited. Dr Reddy’s, NTPC, Axis Bank, and Sun Pharma, on the other hand, were among the gainers.

The BSE Sensex fell 566.09 points to 59,610.41 points on Wednesday, while the Nifty fell 149.75 points to 17,807.65 points.

Also Read| Trade Setup: Top 15 things to know before market opens on April 7, 2022

Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo markets were trading down in mid-session deals in Asia. Stocks in the United States concluded the overnight session lower as well.

“Recent market weakness is partly due to the increasingly hawkish commentary from the US Fed,” V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.

Also Read| Stocks that should be on your watchlist on Thursday, April 7, 2022

“Nasdaq closed 2.22 per cent lower yesterday after minutes from the US Fed’s March meeting showed that central bank will move aggressively to head off inflation. European indices also closed in the red yesterday. All the major Asian markets are trading in negative territory in the early Thursday trade,” according to Mohit Nigam, Head – PMS at Hem Securities.

Also Read| Fuel price today: Petrol and Diesel rates remain unchanged on April 7, 2022

According to market statistics, foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 2,279.97 crore on Wednesday.

Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, rose 1.71% to USD 102.80 a barrel. In early trade, the rupee is down 12 paise to 75.96 against the US dollar.