New Delhi, 18 August (H.S.): Domestic equity markets opened on a weak note on Tuesday. Shortly after the opening, buying support helped both the Sensex and Nifty recover some ground. However, the gains could not be sustained and both benchmarks came under selling pressure. After the first hour of trading, the Sensex was down 0.45 per cent, while the Nifty was lower by 0.32 per cent.

The BSE Sensex opened 309.19 points, or 0.40 per cent, lower at 77,418.97. Soon after, buying emerged and pushed the index up to 77,575.21. However, it failed to hold on to those gains. Selling pressure subsequently intensified, dragging the index lower. At 10:15 a.m., after the first hour of trading, the Sensex was down 346.56 points at 77,381.60.

The NSE Nifty also opened lower, declining 63.80 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 24,223.85. Buying support briefly lifted the index to 24,269.65, but selling pressure soon returned, causing the losses to widen. At 10:15 a.m., the Nifty was down 77.15 points, or 0.32 per cent, at 24,210.50.

A total of 2,821 stocks had witnessed active trading in the market so far. Of these, 1,303 stocks were trading in positive territory, while 1,518 were in the red. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, nine stocks were trading higher with buying support, while 21 were in negative territory. Of the 50 Nifty constituents, 22 were trading in the green and 28 in the red.

After 10:15 a.m., shares of major companies including Grasim Industries, Apollo Hospitals, Adani Enterprises, Axis Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra were trading with gains ranging from 0.74 per cent to 1.20 per cent. On the other hand, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, Wipro and InterGlobe Aviation were trading lower, with losses ranging from 1.23 per cent to 1.69 per cent.

In the previous session on Monday, the Sensex had closed 281.09 points, or 0.36 per cent, lower at 77,728.16. The Nifty ended the session at 24,287.65, down 78.35 points, or 0.32 per cent.

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

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar