New Delhi, 07 August (H.S.):

The domestic equity market remained under pressure during early trading on Friday, with both the Sensex and Nifty opening lower. Although buying emerged shortly after the market opened, helping the benchmark indices recover from their initial lows, they were still unable to move into positive territory during the first hour of trade. After the first hour, the Sensex was down 0.42 per cent, while the Nifty was trading 0.16 per cent lower.

The BSE Sensex opened at 78,516.08 points, declining 438.68 points, or 0.56 per cent, from its previous close. Selling pressure immediately after the opening bell pushed the index down to 78,451.99 points. Buyers subsequently stepped in, helping the Sensex recover and climb to 78,757.40 points. However, selling pressure resurfaced, weakening the index once again.

Amid continued buying and selling, the Sensex was down 333.57 points at 78,621.19 points at 10:15 am, after the first hour of trading.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty opened at 24,538.90 points, down 97.10 points, or 0.39 per cent. Buying emerged shortly after the opening, helping the index recover. Around 10 am, the Nifty climbed to 24,630.40 points, but renewed selling pressure subsequently dragged it lower.

At 10:15 am, after the first hour of trading, the Nifty was down 38.45 points at 24,597.55 points amid continued volatility.

A total of 2,804 stocks were actively traded on the stock market at that point. Of these, 1,551 stocks were trading in positive territory, while 1,253 were in the red. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, 14 stocks were trading higher on the back of buying interest, while 16 were under selling pressure. Of the 50 Nifty constituents, 21 were trading in the green and 29 in negative territory.

Among major stocks, shares of TCS, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, ONGC and Mahindra & Mahindra were trading with gains ranging from 2.74 per cent to 1.22 per cent after the first hour of trade.

On the other hand, shares of Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Trent Ltd, Shriram Finance and Jio Financial were trading lower, with declines ranging from 3.74 per cent to 1.05 per cent.

In the previous trading session on Thursday, the Sensex had closed 373.76 points, or 0.48 per cent, higher at 78,954.76 points. The Nifty had ended the session with a marginal gain of 11.35 points, or 0.05 per cent, at 24,636 points.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar