New Delhi, 24 April (H.S.): Weak global cues and surging crude oil prices have triggered a third consecutive day of declines in domestic stock markets during early trading today. Markets opened lower, briefly recovered on buying support before selling pressure resumed, pushing both Sensex and Nifty back into red territory. After the first hour of trade, Sensex was down 0.90 percent while Nifty fell 0.80 percent.

After the initial hour, heavyweight stocks showed divergence. Coal India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, Nestle, and Grasim Industries traded 0.75 to 1.68 percent higher. Conversely, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharmaceutical, and TCS shares declined between 2.46 and 4.14 percent.

Of 2,762 actively traded stocks so far, 725 advanced while 2,037 declined. Among Sensex's 30 constituents, five stocks traded green on buying support, but 25 remained under selling pressure. In the Nifty 50, 12 stocks gained while 38 fell.

Sensex Trading Trajectory

BSE's Sensex opened 180.20 points lower at 77,483.80. Initial buying lifted it to 77,710.82 in green territory, but heavy selling soon reversed gains. By around 10 a.m., it slipped to 76,829.10 before trading at 76,961.70—down 702.30 points—at 10:15 a.m. after the first hour.

NSE's Nifty opened 72.50 points down at 24,100.55, climbed about 105 points to 24,206 on early buying, then faced selling pressure. It breached 24,000 before hitting 23,944.10 around 10 a.m. At 10:15 a.m., Nifty traded at 23,979.90, down 193.15 points.

Previous Session's Close

On Thursday, Sensex had closed 852.49 points or 1.09 percent lower at 77,664. Nifty ended 205.05 points or 0.84 percent down at 24,173.05.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar