New Delhi, 22 July (H.S.): The domestic stock market witnessed a weak trend in early trading on Wednesday, marking the third consecutive session of decline. The market opened on a cautious note, but selling pressure from bears intensified shortly after the opening bell, pushing both the Sensex and Nifty indices further into negative territory.

Although buyers attempted to provide support through intermittent buying activity, the strong selling pressure prevented any significant recovery in the market. By 10 am, the Sensex was trading 0.73 per cent lower, while the Nifty was down 0.71 per cent.

Among major market players, shares of Bajaj Auto, Nestle India, ONGC, Titan Company and Maruti Suzuki were trading higher, gaining between 3.52 per cent and 0.15 per cent. On the other hand, shares of InterGlobe Aviation, Cipla, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, State Bank of India and Axis Bank were trading lower, declining between 3.05 per cent and 1.35 per cent.

During the ongoing session, active trading was witnessed in 2,704 stocks. Of these, 710 shares were trading in the green, while 1,994 shares were in the red. In the Sensex pack, only three out of 30 constituent stocks were trading with gains, while 27 stocks remained under selling pressure. Similarly, in the Nifty 50 index, seven stocks were trading higher and 43 stocks were witnessing losses.

The BSE Sensex opened at 77,384.95 points, declining 85.16 points or 0.11 per cent from its previous close. Soon after trading began, increased selling pressure dragged the index lower. Within the first 20 minutes of trade, the Sensex fell more than 600 points to touch 76,851.19 points.

Later, buying support from investors helped the index recover marginally. However, amid continued fluctuations between buying and selling activity, the Sensex was trading 568.96 points lower at 76,901.15 points by 10 am.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty opened at 24,150.45 points, down 37.25 points or 0.15 per cent. The index initially recovered slightly to reach 24,166.30 points due to early buying support, but renewed selling pressure pushed it down sharply.

The Nifty declined by more than 170 points to touch 24,008.70 points during early trade. By 10 am, the index was trading 172.60 points lower at 24,015.10 points.

In the previous trading session on Tuesday, the Sensex had closed 238.41 points, or 0.31 per cent, lower at 77,470.11 points. The Nifty ended the session with a loss of 50.80 points, or 0.21 per cent, settling at 24,187.70 points.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar