New Delhi, 28 July (H.S.): The domestic equity market remained under pressure amid volatile trading during the early session on Tuesday. Benchmark indices opened marginally lower and briefly moved into positive territory on the back of buying support immediately after the opening bell. However, renewed selling pressure soon erased the gains, leaving both the Sensex and the Nifty trading almost flat. After the first hour of trade, the Sensex was up 0.02 per cent, while the Nifty was trading 0.01 per cent higher.

Among the market heavyweights, shares of TCS, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and Cipla were trading higher by 2.23 per cent to 4.28 per cent after the first hour of trading. On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever, Bharat Electronics, Coal India, NTPC and Power Grid Corporation declined between 1.68 per cent and 3.85 per cent.

Active trading was witnessed in 2,745 stocks during the early session. Of these, 963 stocks were trading in the green with gains, while 1,782 stocks were trading in the red. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, 12 stocks advanced while 18 declined. Similarly, on the Nifty, 24 of the 50 constituent stocks were trading higher, whereas 26 were in negative territory.

The BSE Sensex opened at 76,831.75, down 4.03 points from its previous close. Supported by early buying, the index climbed to an intraday high of 76,988.48 before profit-booking and fresh selling emerged. Continuous selling pressure dragged the index to an intraday low of 76,705.22 shortly after 10:00 a.m. Amid sustained buying and selling activity, the Sensex was trading at 76,851.34 at 10:15 a.m., up 15.56 points.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty opened 24.70 points lower at 23,971.25. Early buying lifted the benchmark to an intraday high of 24,040.90, but subsequent selling pared the gains. At 10:15 a.m., after the first hour of trading, the Nifty was quoted at 23,998.25, up 2.30 points from its previous close.

In the previous trading session on Monday, the Sensex had rallied 776.01 points, or 1.02 per cent, to close at 76,835.75. The Nifty had also gained 228.50 points, or 0.96 per cent, ending the session at 23,995.95.

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

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar