India, Aug. 12 -- Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty drifted lower in early trade on Wednesday as higher crude oil prices weighed on investors' sentiment.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dipped 35.99 points to 78,097.31 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty skidded 31.15 points to 24,444.55.

Further in the trade, the BSE benchmark dropped 211.37 points to 77,953.66, and the Nifty traded 65.10 points down at 24,411.15.

From the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Adani Ports, Titan and Bajaj Finance were among the major laggards.

State Bank of India, Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank and Asian Paints were among the winners.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, traded 1.24 per cent higher at $ 90.01 per barrel....