New Delhi, 06 August (H.S.): The domestic equity market witnessed a volatile start to Thursday's trading session, with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fluctuating between gains and losses before settling marginally higher during the opening hour. The market opened on a positive note, but persistent buying and selling pressure kept both indices moving within a narrow range.

After the first hour of trading, the BSE Sensex was up 0.17 percent, while the NSE Nifty was trading 0.02 percent higher.

The BSE Sensex opened 201.43 points, or 0.26 percent, higher at 78,782.43. Soon after the opening bell, a tug-of-war between bulls and bears led to volatile movement in the index. Supported by buying, the Sensex climbed to an intraday high of 78,841.43 before slipping to a low of 78,633.73 amid selling pressure. Despite the fluctuations, the index remained in positive territory throughout the session. At 10:15 a.m., the Sensex was trading at 78,717.39, up 136.39 points.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty opened 16.35 points, or 0.07 percent, higher at 24,641. Buying initially pushed the index to an intraday high of 24,665.05, but subsequent selling dragged it briefly into the red, touching a low of 24,604.15. At 10:15 a.m., the Nifty had recovered to trade at 24,628.35, up 3.70 points.

Market breadth remained positive during the opening hour. Of the 2,825 stocks actively traded, 1,706 were trading with gains, while 1,119 were in the red.

Among the 30 Sensex constituents, 14 stocks were trading higher and 16 lower. On the Nifty, 18 of the 50 constituent stocks were in positive territory, while 32 were trading lower.

Among the major gainers during the first hour were Shriram Finance, Eternal, Reliance Industries, Titan Company, and Cipla, with gains ranging between 1.69 percent and 2.15 percent.

On the losing side, Power Grid Corporation, Trent Limited, ONGC, NTPC, and HCL Technologies declined between 0.84 percent and 2.75 percent.

In the previous trading session on Wednesday, the Sensex had closed 152.05 points, or 0.19 percent, higher at 78,581, while the Nifty ended the day with a gain of 9.75 points, or 0.04 percent, at 24,624.65.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar