New Delhi, 26 October (H.S.): The domestic stock market staged a strong recovery from its intraday lows on Monday after witnessing considerable volatility during early trade. Both benchmark indices opened in the red, with a broad-based selling spree immediately after the opening bell dragging the Sensex and the Nifty lower. However, buying at lower levels soon helped the market recover its initial losses and move into positive territory.

After the first hour of trading, the Sensex was up 0.37 per cent, while the Nifty had gained 0.32 per cent.

The BSE Sensex opened at 72,990.04, down 133.79 points, or 0.18 per cent. Selling pressure intensified soon after the market opened, dragging the index to an intraday low of 72,514.57. Declines in heavyweight stocks, including ICICI Bank and the State Bank of India (SBI), contributed to the initial weakness.

However, buyers soon stepped in at lower levels. Strong buying interest in shares of major companies, particularly Kotak Mahindra Bank and JSW Steel, provided support to the market. The renewed buying helped the Sensex recover its losses and climb to an intraday high of 73,491.97.

Amid continued buying and selling, the Sensex was trading at 73,397.31 at 10:15 am, up 273.48 points, or 0.37 per cent, after the first hour of trading.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange's Nifty opened at 22,524.40, down 75.60 points, or 0.33 per cent. The index came under immediate selling pressure after the opening bell and fell to an intraday low of 22,387.35.

However, the initial losses were partly reversed as buying emerged in major pharmaceutical and metal stocks, improving the index's performance. Supported by sustained buying, the Nifty climbed to an intraday high of 22,706.15.

At 10:15 am, the Nifty was trading at 22,672.85, up 72.85 points, or 0.32 per cent, after the first hour of trading.

Market breadth remained weak despite the recovery in the benchmark indices. A total of 2,976 stocks were actively traded, of which 1,012 were in positive territory, while 1,964 were trading lower.

Among the 30 constituents of the Sensex, 19 were trading in the green, supported by buying interest, while 11 were in the red amid selling pressure. On the Nifty, only 10 of the 50 constituent stocks were trading higher, while 40 were recording losses.

Among the market's major gainers, BSE Ltd. advanced 3.82 per cent, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories gained 3.02 per cent, JSW Steel rose 2.42 per cent, Kotak Mahindra Bank climbed 2.07 per cent, and Coal India edged up 0.62 per cent. These stocks helped support the broader market's recovery.

On the other hand, Shriram Finance fell 4.55 per cent, Tata Consumer Products declined 3.01 per cent, Asian Paints dropped 2.57 per cent, HDFC Life Insurance Company slipped 1.48 per cent, and Eicher Motors lost 0.85 per cent, making them among the leading laggards.

In the previous trading session, on Friday, the Sensex had closed 125.56 points lower, down 0.17 per cent, at 73,123.83. The Nifty had ended the session at around 22,600, declining 87.65 points, or 0.39 per cent.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar