India's GIFT Nifty on the NSE International Exchange was down 0.40% at 19,396.00 at 7:59 a.m. IST.

India's annual retail inflation rose to a 15-month high of 7.44% in July, predominantly due to rising vegetable and cereals prices also dragged sentiment.

The figures breached the upper end of the Reserve Bank of India's tolerance band of 2%-6% for the first time in five months.

In the ongoing July-September quarter, the RBI now sees inflation at 6.2%, significantly higher than the earlier forecast of 5.2%.

Meanwhile, Wall Street equities fell overnight after stronger-than-expected retail sales data triggered concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve may have room for further rate hikes.

Asian markets declined on Wednesday, on worries over China's economic recovery a day after the country's central bank unexpectedly cut rates for the second time in three months. [MKTS/GLOB]

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold Indian shares for the second straight session on Monday, offloading 23.24 billion rupees ($278.6 million), while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth 14.61 billion rupees, according to provisional National Stock Exchange (NSE)data.

STOCKS TO WATCH:

** ITC: Co's June quarter profit view tops estimates on lower costs, better demand.

** Infosys: Co signs $1.64 billion deal with video, broadband and communications firm Liberty Global to scale digital platforms.

** Vodafone Idea: Co secures $240 million to meet payment obligations, reports wider June quarter loss on weak 4G subscriber growth.

** Ashok Leyland: Co receives board approval to buy 100% stake in OHM Global Mobility, says it will invest 3 billion rupees as equity into OHM to operationalise the company.

($1 = 83.4150 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Manvi Pant in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)