New Delhi, 16 September (H.S.):

The domestic stock market was trading with a firm bias amid volatility during early trading on Wednesday. The market opened on a positive note, but buying and selling pressure between bulls and bears soon led to fluctuations in both the Sensex and Nifty. Under selling pressure, both indices briefly slipped into negative territory. However, buyers returned shortly afterwards, pushing both benchmarks back into the green. Amid continued buying and selling activity, after the first hour of trading, the Sensex was up 0.28 percent and the Nifty was trading 0.31 percent higher.

The BSE Sensex opened at 74,249.31, gaining 245.49 points, or 0.33 percent. Shortly after trading began, buying support lifted the index more than 250 points above its opening level to an intraday high of 74,505.86. Profit-booking then triggered selling in the market. Under selling pressure, the Sensex surrendered all of its gains within the first half-hour and slipped into negative territory, falling to 73,981.33.

Thereafter, buyers once again stepped in with renewed buying, enabling the index to recover and return to the green. Amid continued buying and selling activity, at 10:15 a.m., after the first hour of trading, the Sensex was up 209.59 points, or 0.28 percent, at 74,213.41.

The NSE Nifty followed a similar trajectory, opening at 23,201.60, up 83 points, or 0.36 percent. Soon after the market opened, buying support pushed the index nearly 80 points above its opening level within the first five minutes, taking it to 23,281.15. Selling pressure subsequently emerged in the market.

Amid continued selling in stocks, the Nifty slipped into negative territory shortly before 10 a.m., falling to 23,116.10. Buyers immediately returned, leading to a recovery in the index. Amid sustained buying and selling activity, at 10:15 a.m., after the first hour of trading, the Nifty was up 71.75 points, or 0.31 percent, at 23,190.35.

At this stage of trading, 2,933 stocks were actively traded in the stock market. Of these, 657 stocks were trading in positive territory, while 2,276 stocks were trading in the red. Among the 30 Sensex constituents, 21 stocks were trading higher with buying support, while nine were trading lower under selling pressure. Similarly, among the 50 Nifty constituents, 32 stocks were trading in the green and 18 were in the red.

After the first hour of trading, shares of major companies including Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Consumer Products, HCL Technologies, ITC and Nestle were trading with gains ranging from 1.46 percent to 1.93 percent. On the other hand, shares of Tata Steel, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd. (TMPV), NTPC, ONGC and TCS were trading lower, with declines ranging from 0.80 percent to 1.66 percent.

In the previous trading session on Tuesday, the Sensex had closed at 74,003.82, down 777.94 points, or 1.04 percent. The Nifty, meanwhile, ended Tuesday’s trading session at 23,118.60, registering a decline of 279.50 points, or 1.19 percent.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar