New Delhi, 27 August (H.S.): Domestic equity markets remained under pressure during early trading on Thursday. The session began on a positive note, with both the Sensex and Nifty initially edging higher on the back of buying support. However, the gains failed to sustain, and selling pressure emerged shortly afterwards, pushing both benchmark indices into negative territory. Amid continued buying and selling activity, the Sensex was down 0.15 percent and the Nifty 0.07 percent after the first hour of trading.
The BSE Sensex opened 103.82 points, or 0.13 percent, higher at 77,576.76. Shortly after the opening bell, buying support lifted the index by around 120 points from its opening level to an intraday high of 77,694.97. However, selling pressure subsequently emerged, eroding the gains within a short span. After the first hour of trading, at 10:15 a.m., the Sensex was trading at 77,360.24, down 112.70 points, or 0.15 percent.
Similarly, the NSE Nifty opened 69.85 points, or 0.29 percent, higher at 24,277.60. Supported by early buying, the index climbed nearly 90 points in the initial minutes to reach 24,297.45. The uptrend, however, failed to hold as profit-booking triggered selling pressure, dragging the index into negative territory. At 10:15 a.m., after the first hour of trade, the Nifty was trading at 24,191.30, down 16.45 points, or 0.07 percent.
A total of 2,919 stocks were actively traded in the market at this stage. Of these, 1,254 stocks were trading in positive territory, while 1,665 were in the red. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, 10 stocks were trading higher on buying support, whereas 20 were under selling pressure. On the Nifty, 21 of the 50 constituent stocks were trading in the green, while 29 were trading lower.
After the first hour of trading, shares of major companies including Kotak Mahindra Bank, Adani Enterprises, Bharat Electronics, Tech Mahindra and Bajaj Finance were trading with gains ranging from 2.23 percent to 0.76 percent. On the other hand, shares of Shriram Finance, HCL Technologies, HDFC Bank, InterGlobe Aviation and Tata Consumer Products were trading lower, with losses ranging from 1.89 percent to 0.86 percent.
In the previous trading session on Wednesday, the Sensex had closed 183.15 points, or 0.24 percent, lower at 77,472.94. The Nifty, meanwhile, ended Wednesday's session at 24,207.75, registering a decline of 126.80 points, or 0.52 percent.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
