New Delhi, 03 August (H.S.):

Indian benchmark equity indices traded firmly higher during early trading on Monday, supported by broad-based buying across sectors. Although both the Sensex and the Nifty briefly came under selling pressure soon after the opening bell, renewed buying quickly helped the markets regain momentum. After the first hour of trading, both indices were up by around 0.80 percent.

The BSE Sensex opened 788.70 points, or 1.01 percent, higher at 78,883.34. However, early profit booking pulled the index down by nearly 400 points from its opening level to an intraday low of 78,497.34. Fresh buying subsequently lifted sentiment, and by 10:15 a.m., the Sensex was trading 625.02 points higher at 78,719.66.

The NSE Nifty also opened on a positive note, gaining 189.10 points, or 0.78 percent, to begin trading at 24,572.70. Selling pressure briefly dragged the index to an intraday low of 24,515.15 before strong buying interest across the market pushed it higher once again. At 10:15 a.m., the Nifty was trading at 24,578.30, up 194.70 points from the previous close.

Among the top performers during the first hour of trade were ITC, InterGlobe Aviation, Shriram Finance, Jio Financial Services and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), with gains ranging between 1.88 percent and 2.61 percent.

On the downside, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel, Cipla and Eternal were among the major laggards, declining between 0.17 percent and 2.44 percent.

Market breadth remained strongly positive. Of the 2,875 stocks actively traded during the session, 2,372 advanced while 503 declined.

Among the 30 Sensex constituents, 26 stocks were trading in positive territory, while four were in the red. Similarly, 42 of the 50 Nifty stocks were trading with gains, while eight were trading lower.

In the previous trading session on Friday, the BSE Sensex had closed 166.49 points, or 0.21 percent, higher at 78,094.64. The NSE Nifty ended the day with a gain of 66.45 points, or 0.27 percent, to settle at 24,383.60.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar