New Delhi, 12 August (H.S.): The domestic equity market came under pressure during early trading on Wednesday, with both the Sensex and Nifty declining after opening with marginal gains. Volatility emerged soon after the opening bell as buyers and sellers competed for control. After the first hour of trading, the Sensex was down 0.46 per cent, while the Nifty had declined 0.45 per cent.

The BSE Sensex opened 109.08 points, or 0.14 per cent, higher at 78,263.33. However, selling pressure soon pushed the index into negative territory. The Sensex fell more than 480 points from its opening level to touch an intraday low of 77,784.04.

Buying support subsequently helped the index recover briefly to 78,118.90. However, the recovery failed to sustain as renewed selling pressure pulled the benchmark lower once again. Amid continued buying and selling activity, the Sensex was down 358.17 points at 77,796.08 at 10:15 a.m., after the first hour of trading.

The NSE Nifty began the session with a marginal gain of 0.75 points at 24,472.45. The index also witnessed considerable volatility after the market opened, with sellers maintaining the upper hand for most of the first hour.

Persistent selling dragged the Nifty nearly 115 points below its opening level to an intraday low of 24,357.50. At 10:15 a.m., the index was trading 110.70 points lower at 24,361 amid continued fluctuations between buying and selling activity.

Broad Market Also Under Pressure

A total of 2,769 stocks were actively traded in the market during the early session. Of these, 1,235 stocks were trading in positive territory, while 1,534 were in the red.

Among the 30 Sensex constituents, only four stocks were trading with gains, while 26 were under selling pressure. On the Nifty, eight of the 50 constituents were trading higher, while 42 remained in negative territory.

Among major stocks, Hindalco Industries, State Bank of India, Nestle and Bajaj Auto were trading higher, with gains ranging from 0.37 per cent to 2.56 per cent.

On the other hand, Max Healthcare, Apollo Hospitals, Jio Financial, Bajaj Finserv and Bharat Electronics were among the major laggards, declining between 1.06 per cent and 2.21 per cent.

In the previous trading session on Tuesday, the Sensex closed 388.19 points, or 0.49 per cent, lower at 78,154.25. The Nifty also ended the session down 112.10 points, or 0.46 per cent, at 24,471.70.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar