Indian equities benchmarks continued to decline for a fourth consecutive sessioin on Thursday, despite weak cues from the international markets. 

After consumer inflation in the United States climbed to a more than 40-year high of 9.1% in June, signalling an aggressive interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, U.S. stock futures suffered. A higher rate hike to control inflation may cause the economy to enter a recession, therefore this concern caused most Asian markets to trade down as well.

The NSE Nifty dropped 28 points or 0.18 percent to conclude at 15,939, while the 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 98 points or 0.18 percent to close at 53,416. The Nifty Midcap 100 lost 0.09 percent, and small-cap shares down 1.14 percent, as mid- and small-cap equities concluded on a shaky note.

The top large-cap laggards were Axis Bank, HCL Tech, SBI, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Wipro, Infosys, and Ultratech Cement, while the top draggers in the overall market were Barun Beverages, Oil India, Canara Bank, Mindtree, Birlasoft, and Ajmera Realty.

Meanwhile, oil prices dropped due to worries that a dramatic increase in U.S. interest rates could both curb inflation and decrease demand for crude. To $97.35 a barrel, Brent crude futures saw a 2.23 percent decline.

Domestic indexes also lost some of their early gains as wholesale price-based inflation (WPI) continued to be double digits for the fifteenth consecutive month.

WPI inflation dropped to 15.18 pc in June

US inflation reaches a 40-year high in June, 9.1 pc in June

India's inflation rate likely to be around 5 pc by March 2023